


LU Drabbles

by Sillus



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Tags will mostly be in notes, but you can expect:
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:33:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21787573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sillus/pseuds/Sillus
Summary: A collection of drabbles both for Secret Santa projects and prompts from my Tumblr! Tags will be in the notes for each chapter. Unless specified, each chapter can be read independently.
Comments: 125
Kudos: 402





	1. A Close Call of Many to Come

**Author's Note:**

> A Secret Santa gift for Kouvr on Discord!  
> They wanted Downfall Boys and Angst, so I delivered!  
> Warning tags: Violence, Graphic Violence (a liiiittle graphic, but not too much to be extreme?), Hurt/Comfort.  
> I hope you enjoy!  
> Original publish date: Dec 13th  
> Summary: 
> 
> As much as Hyrule loves his magic, and as much as he loves magic in general, he is really starting to hate whatever magic that’s not only basically forcing them to hop between time periods, but also occasionally splitting them up.
> 
> Hyrule and Legend had found themselves in a forest just north of Saria town in Hyrule’s time period, the others nowhere to be seen and the sun rapidly setting. With nighttime being so dangerous in his home, Hyrule tried to get them to the town as soon as they possibly could, knowing it would be relatively safer than the wilderness.
> 
> And then the geru appeared.

_This is bad…_

Hyrule raises his chin higher as the claws press closer, nicking his skin. Legend looks like he wants to pounce, hands trembling with the urge to stay still as more and more geru take their places in the slowly growing circle surrounding them. The geru holding him hisses, digging its claws deeper into his neck.

Legend meets his gaze, icy blue eyes burning with a fury that sends shivers up Hyrule’s spine. He sees him mutter something under his breath before he carefully holds his sword out to the side and lets it drop to the ground with a resounding _clang_.

Hyrule’s heart sinks as the geru lunge, forcing Legend to the ground and pinning him there. As bruised and bloody as they are, they stand no chance of escaping as the geru manhandle them. Their arms and legs are bound, the ropes digging into their skin, and they are slung over armored shoulders and promptly marched away.

* * *

As much as Hyrule loves his magic, and as much as he loves magic in general, he is really starting to hate whatever magic that’s not only basically forcing them to hop between time periods, but also occasionally splitting them up.

Hyrule and Legend had found themselves in a forest just north of Saria town in Hyrule’s time period, the others nowhere to be seen and the sun rapidly setting. With nighttime being so dangerous in his home, Hyrule tried to get them to the town as soon as they possibly could, knowing it would be relatively safer than the wilderness.

And then the geru appeared.

Fearsome and intelligent, they are some of the strongest enemies Hyrule has ever faced. They have a build similar to what the others call Lizalfos, but they are far bulkier and wield maces instead of spears and swords. What’s worse is that they are also followers of Ganon. They must be getting desperate, because they never stray so far from their territories, and especially not so close to a town.

And now, they have Hyrule and Legend held captive.

He can hear Legend cursing up a storm as they are carried into a dark, dank cave. Hyrule itches to do _something_ —kick the geru holding him, cast a spell, _anything_ to get away—but Legend is here with him. What will they do to him if Hyrule flees? Is that why they’re even bothering with Legend; to make Hyrule docile and obeying?

“…your head on a spike if you don’t put me the _fuck_ down you rip-off lizalfos piece of _shit_! You are _so_ lucky I’m not by myself you mother _fucker_ , you would be nothing but _ashes_!

Hyrule stiffens. Ashes… is that why he’s not dead yet?

He knows he is wanted for his blood. He knows that if his blood is sprinkled onto the ashes of Ganon, he will return stronger than ever. But the geru didn’t just kill him… they’re bringing him and Legend somewhere. It would be easier to kill them and take Hyrule’s blood if…

If the destination was far away.

_Oh no._

His heart begins to pound faster as his mind whirls and whirls. He should just cast a spell and get the hell out of here, but Legend is still here and Hyrule can’t just leave him behind. Does he have enough time and energy to free both of them and then book it? Where would they go? How many more geru are there lurking about in the woods? How is he going to get them out of this? The flute might work, but he needs time to get through the whole song—and that’s if they don’t take it away or kill him on the spot.

The geru had a chance, and they certainly took it. Hyrule is stuck. He doesn’t know what to do. These monsters are far more intelligent than he initially thought.

Before Hyrule can continue to panic, he’s dumped onto the cold, stone ground. He wriggles, trying to sit up and get the geru back in his sight. _Never let your enemy out of your sight._

But the sight that greets him makes his blood run cold. A geru is holding Legend by the throat against the stone wall, the claws on its other hand pressing against his abdomen, ready to rip him apart. He’s gagged, but just because he can’t yell anymore doesn’t mean Hyrule doesn’t see the rage distorting his features.

Hyrule wishes he felt rage. All he can feel is fear as the geru grab his arms and hoist him up, allowing him to see other geru bringing over an urn about the size of Hyrule himself.

They _do_ have the ashes. _Oh no. Shit. This is **really** bad._

Out of the corner of his eye, Hyrule sees Legend frown in confusion as the geru place the urn in front of him.

He has a choice here. What does he do? Hyrule can use his magic now, and potentially get away, but then Legend will face the consequences. But if he stays, he’s going to be killed, and Ganon will return and put the entire kingdom in peril.

The others have no idea where he and Legend are. Hyrule can’t count on them to show up out of the blue. No, this is up to him, and he has to make a decision.

The claws tighten their grip on his arms, snapping Hyrule from his thoughts just in time for him to witness a scepter stabbing into his abdomen. A scream rips from his throat, and he hears a muffled one come from Legend’s direction as the geru holding the scepter twists the weapon deeper, the blade on the end sending waves of white hot pain through his entire body.

He’s screaming, but he can barely comprehend anything else except the scepter being ripped out of his stomach, slicing even more of his body open, and there’s blood everywhere—on the weapon itself and pouring from the hole in his chest and staining his tunic. He’s being lifted, slowly being moved closer and closer to the urn—!

The spell for Fairy instinctually flies from his mouth, and immediately, he’s free from the ropes and the claws holding him in place, and he’s falling down down down. He clutches the hole in his stomach as his wings begin flapping frantically. Before the geru can realize what’s happening, Hyrule is flying away, heading toward the only entrance in the cavern.

_I’m sorry, Legend_. Hyrule blinks away tears, not daring to look at where he last saw him. _I can’t let Ganon come back…_

But as he flies away, swooping up and over the various claws trying to grab him and struggling to stay conscious, he is oblivious to the painting tailing him from behind, hidden in the shadows as the geru chase their prey.

* * *

Hyrule doesn’t know how long he flies. He only knows that the longer he stays in this form, the weaker he feels, and coupled with the agony in his stomach, his mind is lost in a world of grief, confusion, and pain as his body works on autopilot.

But at one point, it gets to be too much.

Everything Hyrule has to give is not enough to get him out of the cave system. He grows back to his normal size and falls to the ground with a _thump_ , curled in a ball with his arms around his stomach—which is still bleeding heavily.

Footsteps pound against the stone, drawing closer and closer with every footfall. He hears the sound of metal sinking into flesh and loud, animalistic cries. The footsteps come even closer, and when Hyrule cracks open an eye, he sees an orange geru standing over him, its mace held high above its head, ready to swing down and crush his head.

A sword suddenly bursts from its chest, the geru going limp and dropping its mace almost immediately. The orange steel is pulled back into the body, and a foot kicks the dead geru away. Legend stands over him, covered in claw marks and puncture wounds—probably from the maces. He’s breathing heavily, dirt, blood, and sweat mixing together on his face as he falls to his knees beside Hyrule.

Then it clicks in his mind that this is _Legend_.

“Stay awake,” Hyrule hears him croak. He presses his trembling hands against the hole in Hyrule’s stomach, trying to staunch the bleeding and failing. “Don’t fall asleep.”

Legend is… alive? But the geru was holding him… he had nowhere to go, no way to get away… right?

“Fuck, Hyrule,” Legend wheezes, tearing off his red tunic and bundling it up. With his bloodied hands, he tries using that to stem the bleeding as Hyrule fights for each breath, his vision darkening at the edges. He can’t fall asleep. Legend told him not to fall asleep, and Legend has yet to lead him and the others astray. _Don’t fall asleep._

“The fuck did they do to you?” Hyrule faintly hears.

“W-wanted… blood,” Hyrule replies. Legend snorts.

“Yeah, they wanted blood alright.”

He doesn’t understand. That’s okay, though. He doesn’t _want_ Legend to understand.

More footsteps cause the ground underneath him to vibrate. Hyrule’s stomach clenches in response. There’s more coming—a _lot_ more. He tries to push himself up, but Legend forces him back down, moving Hyrule’s hands to his now soiled tunic.

“Hold it,” he orders. Hyrule does as he says, letting out a whine when he pulls away. Where is he going? Why did he make Hyrule stay here? Is he going to fight all those monsters surely headed their way by himself? But he’s so hurt—they both are. This isn’t a battle they can win.

But Legend has far more tricks up his sleeve than Hyrule gave him credit for. Legend stands with his back to Hyrule, his right hand reaching up to presumably grab something on his chest, and his left hand holding his sword up with the point facing down.

“Stay the _fuck_ away from him!” Legend bellows, his voice booming through the tunnels as he stabs his sword into the ground. The stone quakes in response, cracks appearing and spreading through the tunnel and pebbles falling from the ceiling. One hits Hyrule right in the center of the forehead. As if he wasn’t already hurt enough.

But Hyrule blearily watches as the path they came from is blocked off by a wall of rocks. His ears ring as Legend leans against his sword, shoulders moving up and down as he heaves for breath. Funny… the pain is beginning to ebb away…

He’s not sure when Legend comes back to his side, nor when he’s picked up, but the next thing Hyrule knows, Legend is setting him down at the entrance of the cave, the moonlight far too bright for his eyes after being underground. Legend collapses beside him, hands weakly finding the bundle of ruined cloth and pressing down.

“C’mon, ‘Rule,” he hisses through a wheeze. “Stay with me.”

His vision is rapidly darkening, he can’t feel anything, the ringing in his ears grows in volume. The last thing he hears is a wolf’s howl and Legend frantic yelling.

* * *

“Stay with me!” Legend yells, shaking Hyrule’s shoulders but to not avail. Hyrule’s head lolls to the side, his breaths shallow and erratic. “ _Fuck_!”

He doesn’t have a lot of time left. He has nothing but his sword and his medallions, as everything else was stored away on Twilight’s horse before they switched time periods.

“It’s always the fucking lizards,” Legend snarls as he presses down on the gaping hole in Hyrule’s abdomen. “It’s _always_ the _fucking_ lizards.”

A bark startles him badly enough to jump and nearly fall onto Hyrule. Legend forces his body to turn around, ignoring the cries of pain from his wounds as they are stretched and jostled. Wolfie barks again, then turns tail and flees back into the forest. Legend can hear the beast howling, undoubtedly calling for the rest of their companions.

“And it’s always the wolf that helps us,” Legend mumbles as Sky bursts from the tree line.

* * *

When Hyrule comes to, his first thought is _fucking ow._

His second thought is _oh hey, I’m alive._

When Hyrule opens his eyes, it’s to see old wooden rafters covered in cobwebs. Every breath sends waves of pain through his body, and he groans as he tries to sit up.

“Woah woah woah!”

Hyrule flinches at Legend’s shouts, causing him to fall back onto the stiff cot and jostle his wound.

“What…?” Hyrule rasps, his head spinning.

“Did you forget you got stabbed?” Legend snaps, leaning into Hyrule’s line of sight and looking far more relived than he sounds. He’s covered in bandages. “You have a lot of explaining to do, by the way.”

“Oh, is he awake?” A woman’s voice calls.

“Renee?” Hyrule mumbles. A familiar ginger joins Legend in leaning over him.

“Hi, honey!” She chirps. “You’ve been through quite a lot! Your friend here was about to rip my head off, he was so worried!”

“You have _no_ filter, do you,” Legend retorts, turning a little pink in the cheeks.

Renee winks. “You weren’t the only one, but you were the worst.”

“Wait, what?” Hyrule murmurs, blinking a couple times to chase the dizziness away. Two pairs of hands help him sit up, old pillows supporting him against a ruined headboard.

“You had to call in a literal _wizard_!” Legend yells. “Of _course_ I was worried!”

“Hey, Jaime isn’t a wizard,” Renee retorts. “He’s a _mage_! He might be a little crazy, but don’t disrespect him! He saved Link’s life with that spell of his!”

“Lady, that’s not the point!” Legend yells just as Hyrule hears a door slam open.

“Are you two _ever_ going to stop arguing?” Hyrule hears Twilight berate just before he comes into view. “Hyrule nearly died, and you two are just squabbling like children!”

“To be fair, I _am_ a child,” Renee mumbles.

“You’re sixteen. No you’re not,” Legend mutters back.

“This is exactly what I’m talking about,” Twilight snaps before turning his attention to Hyrule. “How are you feeling?” He asks in a significantly softer voice.

“Very confused,” Hyrule answers without skipping a beat.

“Understandable.” Sky’s voice is a welcome change to rowdy, snippy bickering from before. He sits on the edge of the bed beside him, giving his hair a gentle ruffle to distract Hyrule from the death glare he sends the others. “We’re in Saria Town. You and Legend were patched up by Renee and Jaime. We nearly lost you.”

“Sky and I walked Jaime home,” Twilight adds.

“You lot have some weird nicknames,” Renee comments.

“You don’t want to know why we even _have_ the nicknames,” Legend utters.

“Will you stop being such a sourpuss?” Twilight snaps again.

“Where’re the others?” Hyrule asks feeling more exasperated at this point than anything else.

“We haven’t found anyone else yet,” Sky replies. He meets Twilight’s gaze. “Speaking of them, maybe we should make another round?”

Twilight nods. “We’re bringing Renee this time.”

“What? Why? You guys just walked Crazy Jaime home! After that old coot, you should know your way around town by now!” Renee pouts.

Hyrule can’t help but feel a little defensive for Jaime. Sure, he _is_ crazy, but he also taught Hyrule the Life spell—and came to help him at the request of Renee, who’s the only person in the entire town that knows anything about medicine.

“You’re right, but I don’t wanna leave you basically alone with Legend, who’s not going to leave Hyrule’s side. Again,” Twilight says.

Legend nods, giving Renee a smug look. She sighs.

“Getting kicked out of my own house after helping my dear hero. What kind of world am I living in?” She mutters as she stomps toward the door. Twilight and Sky trail her, exchanging a bemused glance. Hyrule makes a mental note to bring her some monster parts after everything is said and done. She might be a pain sometimes, but Hyrule doesn’t know what he’d do without her and her fiery personality.

When the door falls shut and the house descends into silence, Legend moves to take Sky’s place on the bed, leveling Hyrule with a stern look.

“So what was that back there? With all the lizards?” Legend inquires. Hyrule should have known he wouldn’t beat around the bush.

“Well,” Hyrule begins, scrambling to get his thoughts together. “I have a spell called Fairy and I use it to—“

“Not the fucking spell, you doofus,” Legend interrupts. “The geru! Why didn’t they just kill us? What was the deal with that urn?”

“You think I know?” Hyrule shoots back.

Legend nods. “Yes, because you’re ducking your head and twiddling your thumbs. You do that when you’re anxious, and you’re anxious when you _lie_.”

_Dammit._

Hyrule lets out a heavy sigh. “Can I ask you to not tell the others?”

Legend narrows his eyes. “That depends.”

“Of course it does.” Hyrule fiddles with the sheet draped around his waist, conscious of the pain in his stomach and the icy eyes boring into the side of his head.

“On my first adventure,” he utters, “I turned Ganon to ash. But he… he cursed me before he died. Now… if my blood is poured on his ashes, he’ll come back.”

He chances a glance at Legend, only to find his face carefully blank. Swallowing around the lump in his throat, Hyrule opens his mouth to continue.

“And uh… I’m not the only one who knows that. All of the followers of Ganon know who I am, and I’m… hunted, in a sense.”

“How long?” Legend demands, not wasting a single second.

Technically, Hyrule has been hunted his entire life. Monsters have always been after him simply because he wasn’t one of them. But not only is that a norm for him, but it’s also not what Legend is asking. “Almost four years,” Hyrule murmurs in reply.

“So you’re telling me that you’ve been hunted for almost four years, and that if you get caught, Ganon comes back?” Legend reiterates.

Hyrule nods, grabbing a fistful of the sheets to stop his hands from shaking. But when he looks up again, he sees that Legend’s face has morphed from blank to… distress?

“Where did I fuck up?” Legend whispers, and Hyrule has a feeling he isn’t meant to hear this. “What did I do wrong? It’s bad enough he had to deal with Ganon in the first place, but to be cursed and hunted? Fuck, fuck, fuck…”

Legend _can’t_ be blaming himself for the actions of a monster. Legend _can’t_ be panicking over something he had no control of. Hyrule grabs Legend’s wrists before he can start pulling at his hair like he normally does when overwhelmed, startling the other hero into meeting his gaze.

“Why are you blaming yourself?” Hyrule demands, his voice cracking and eyes welling up with tears. Legend freezes in his hold, and Hyrule can see him fighting back the urge to cry.

“I-I…”

Hyrule gives him a little shake. “You _know_ this isn’t your fault.”

“‘Rule…”

“You _know_ this is Ganon’s fault! You said it yourself when Time told us about Wild’s experience!” Hyrule sniffles, and Legend squeezes his eyes shut. “Why are you blaming yourself?”

“Because it was my responsibility to keep Ganon from returning and I failed,” Legend breathes. “And you’re suffering the consequences of my actions.”

Hyrule throws all pretenses of caution and courtesy out the window. Ignoring the sharp pain in his stomach, Hyrule drops Legend’s wrists in favor of lunging at him, throwing his arms around his neck and pressing close. To his surprise, Legend’s arms immediately circle around his sides, gently squeezing as he buries his face into Hyrule’s shoulder.

This is how Sky finds them, curled in each other’s arms and letting all their pain and grief out in the form of tears while trying to reassure the other. The rest of their companions let out a confused murmur when Sky closes the door on them.

“We should leave them alone,” He explains when Renee raises an expectant eyebrow. “They need some time away from us right now.”


	2. Unity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Secret Santa gift for River on discord :D  
> She wanted Sky, Four, and Legend fluff with a pinch of Hyrule <3  
> I hope you enjoy!  
> Warning Tags: FLUFF :D  
> Original publish date: Dec 30th  
> Summary:
> 
> “Unacceptable,” Sky states, and Legend knows he’s screwed now. “I can’t believe you don’t celebrate anything but a birthday! And not even your own?”
> 
> “We’re too busy for silly things like that,” Legend retorts, desperate to derail Sky from the current conversation. “Me, especially. I can’t seem to catch a break!”
> 
> “ _Silly things?_ ” Sky gasps, raising a hand to his chest with his mouth open in a gape. “These celebrations are not _silly!_ ”
> 
> “They’re meant to celebrate life and growth,” Four adds, looking rather put off. Oh goddesses above, Legend might be able to deal with Sky, but Sky _and_ Four? Nope. Not good. He has a problem. A _big_ problem.

“My grandma makes the best soup _ever_ ,” Wind states with an air of confidence that make no one want to even entertain the idea of questioning the youngest hero. “If we ever go to Outset Island, I’ll hook you up.”

“Thanks, Wind,” Time chuckles.

“I knew a Yeti that could make a mean bowl of soup,” Twilight adds with a fond smile on his face. “Pumpkin, fish, cheese, and a little bit of milk and spice.”

“That recipe was amazing,” Wild chirps. “I’ve gotta make that more often! It’s so easy!”

“Is that the soup you made back when we all first met?” Hyrule asks. “Because that was _good._ ”

“And Wind says his Grandma makes better? Sign me up,” Warriors adds with a grin.

“Glutton,” Four mutters. Warriors shoots him an offended look.

“Hey! I don’t get good food like that often!”

“And you eat more than all of us combined!” Legend laughs, clapping Warriors on the back. “Except maybe Wind, but he’s a teenager.”

“What’s _that_ supposed to mean?” Wind yells.

“It means get your fucking nutrients, kid. You’re not gonna have a bottomless pit of a stomach forever.”

“Well,” Time interrupts before an argument can break out. “If we can make it to a village soon, we can probably score some good ingredients. It’s the Winter Season, after all.”

“Oh yeah!” Twilight perks up, eyes sparkling with excitement. “There will be tons of people selling all kinds of food, right Warriors?”   
  


“Of course!” Warriors proudly puffs out his chest, a smirk on his face. “The Winter Season is the best time for cooking! We might even be able to just buy a meal!”

“The Winter Season? Do you mean the Snow Festival?” Sky asks, tilting his head.

“That certainly sounds like the Snow Festival,” Four adds.

“Do people give out gifts and make a ton of food?” Warriors asks.

“Yup.”

“Same thing then.”

“It’s interesting how the name changes overtime, but the traditional celebration stays the same,” Time remarks.

“In my time period, we call it Gifting Season!” Wind gives them all a shit-eating grin. “I gave my sister a ton of crabs one year. I had nowhere to put them except for her bed.”

“So _that’s_ why you asked me about crabs earlier!” Wild holds his slate to his chest protectively, eyes wide. “You’re _devious!_ ”

“That’s what happens when you have siblings! The next year, she cut my hair all wonky and gave it back to me!”

As they all begin to talk about what kind of festivities they hold during these times, Hyrule catches Legend’s eye and tilts his head in confusion.

“Do you know what they’re talking about?” He murmurs in question.

Legend shrugs back. He hasn’t the slightest clue as to what their companions are talking about. Festivals? Just because it’s winter time? He’s never heard of anything like that. Giving gifts? Making lots of food and giving it away? Being able to _buy_ a full meal? He’s never had an opportunity for any of that.

And looking at Hyrule, it seems he’s not the only one. He looks just as lost as Legend, and knowing where he comes from, Legend supposes it makes sense. Legend lives in a time of depression, money fleeting and rare, food even rarer. Working as a blacksmith was the only thing that got food on the table—that and venturing into caves riddled with monsters for treasures nobody else was capable of getting their hands on.

And meanwhile, Hyrule lives in a world of poverty, where _everyone_ barely has enough to get by. Villages are sparse and monsters run rampant. Festivals and celebrations would be pointless when there’s not enough to go around, especially with the added danger of attracting hordes of monsters.

Sky notices their lack of contribution first, breaking away from the conversation to walk over to them.

“What kind of celebrations do you two have?” He asks, eyes shining with a eagerness that makes Legend feel slightly awkward.

“Well,” Hyrule mumbles, scratching the back of his head. “That’s the thing… we don’t have any.”

And just like that, the eagerness from before darkens into a dangerous kind of confusion. 

“…What?” Sky looks… not angry, but certainly not happy, and that alone has the hairs on the back of Legend’s neck rising. Sky is _terrifying_ when he’s not his happy-go-lucky self. He’s a force to be reckoned with should one get on his bad side. Legend briefly wonders if his relation to Sky has anything to do with his own bad side.

“I’ve never even _heard_ of festivals centered around the time of year,” Hyrule continues, digging themselves deeper into the hole they’re already in.

“The princess’s birthday is something we celebrate every year,” Legend says after sharply elbowing Hyrule. “But that’s in the summertime.”

“Wait,” Four chimes in, walking up to stand beside Sky. “You don’t have any autumn harvest festivals?”

“Or any celebrations to welcome summertime?”

“Or _anything_ like that?” Four and Sky stare at them with wide, confused eyes. Legend gulps, getting a bad feeling of what’s to come. A quick glance at Hyrule shows him beyond confusion, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.

“No?” Hyrule finally squeaks out.

Sky and Four exchange a startled glance while Legend fights the urge to _throttle_ Hyrule. That fucking _idiot!_ Now they’re going to be subjected to all kinds of weird and dumb shit if the one celebration back home is anything to go by! Legend still finds himself gagging at the thought of fried butter!

“Wait, you two don’t have celebrations?” Wind asks, bug eyed.

“Even _I_ have celebrations,” Wild adds in a mutter.

“Unacceptable,” Sky states, and Legend _knows_ he’s screwed now. “I can’t believe you don’t celebrate anything but a birthday! And not even your own?”

“We’re too busy for silly things like that,” Legend retorts, desperate to derail Sky from the current conversation. “Me, especially. I can’t seem to catch a break!”

“ _Silly things?_ ” Sky gasps, raising a hand to his chest with his mouth open in a gape. “These celebrations are not _silly!_ ”

“They’re meant to celebrate life and growth,” Four adds, looking rather put off. Oh goddesses above, Legend might be able to deal with Sky, but Sky _and_ Four? Nope. Not good. He has a problem. A _big_ problem.

“But why?” Hyrule asks, “We can barely scrape by as it is. There’s not enough money or food for a festival, right?”

Legend finds himself wondering the same thing. What’s the point of a big celebration when you could use the money and food for more important things? He knows the others are better off than him and Hyrule, but are they _that much_ better off to the point where they can just throw away money?

Sky and Four exchange another glance, eyes narrowed with a contemplative gleam to them that makes Legend want to take Hyrule and _run_. What torture are they going to be subjected to? Will any of the others put a stop to them? Sky is the type to protect others in a doting kind of way, with soft touches and gentle gestures that can evolve into a terrifyingly powerful force that leaves any threat scrambling to get the fuck out of the way of his wrath before it’s too late. Meanwhile, Four is far more calm and collected, physically young but with a mature air to him that leads unsuspecting fools in only for them to find out how devious and _dangerous_ Four is when it comes to his friends and family.

And now Legend is going to be on the receiving side of this if those matching grins and that shared nod are anything to go by.

_Well shit._

He grabs Hyrule’s arm and tugs him just close enough to murmur, “Brace yourself.”

Hyrule blinks. “What?”

But before they can do anything else, Four and Sky are grabbing their arms and pulling them along, Legend spluttering and fighting against their hold while Hyrule lets himself be lead to their doom.   
  


The others follow along, some snickering, some murmuring in curiosity, but all Legend knows is that none of them are raising a single hand to help, and Legend can and _will_ get back at them all for this, mark his words.

“There’s a town just north of here,” Warriors supplies, and Legend can _hear_ the smirk in his voice. _Guess I’m gonna start with him._

Four and Sky lead the way, dragging Legend and Hyrule after them while Warriors jogs to keep up, shouting directions every once and a while. The others let the five run on ahead, trusting in Time to not lead them astray.

* * *

  
By the time they find the town Warriors was talking about, Legend’s heart has sunk to his stomach. He can hear people shouting over the loud music playing, and he can see red and green decorations accentuating every building in sight.

“Well look at that,” Warriors says with a grin. “Festivities have already started.”

“You already knew that, didn’t you?” Legend hisses back.

“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t.”

“You’re not slick.”

Warriors only winks before Legend is being pulled away by Sky once more. A glance over his shoulder shows Warriors waving him goodbye while Time looks on with a bemused smile. _Those bastards._

It could be worse. At least he’s not the only one in the dark. Hyrule stumbles along beside him, Four’s insistent tugging practically dragging the poor kid on the ground. The second they step foot into the town, they are swarmed by bright-eyed and cheery people, wide smiles on their faces and bursting with infectious laughter.

Almost immediately, Legend’s sourness dissipates into a yearning curiosity. These people are so happy, joyful, carefree and lighthearted. And it’s all because of the time of year?

Legend lets Sky lead him along as he swivels his head from left to right, taking in all the colors and decorations and _people_. He doesn’t think he’s ever seen this many people in one spot in his life, and never mind seeing all of them so… relaxed?

He hears Hyrule exclaim something from his side, but the amount of, to put it frankly, _happy noises_ coming from everywhere drowns out his words. Legend glances at Hyrule to see him pointing to some kind of stall.

“That’s so much food!” He faintly hears him shout, and Legend is inclined to agree. The stall is absolutely _loaded_ with all kinds of treats and delicacies, most of which are things that Legend has zero clue about what they could be. All he knows is that there’s certainly no _fried butter._

“It’s a little expensive,” Four calls back. “But it tastes good!”

Sky stops, and Legend makes sure to stand close by so they don’t get separated, forgetting the fact that Sky is still clutching his wrist. Four and Hyrule squeeze close, and they form a little huddle together in the midst of the crowd.

“This should be easy to navigate,” Four says once they’re all situated.

Legend splutters. “What? _Easy_ to navigate? Have you _seen_ how many people are here?”

“The crowd will be the hardest part,” Sky replies, giving Legend’s wrist a gentle squeeze. “But as for the rest, most stalls will either have food or trinkets to buy. Some might even have games.”

“What kind of games?” Legend asks with narrowed eyes while Hyrule murmurs, “That food looks so good…”

“I’m not sure,” Four replies. “Not my time period, but my festivals always had a sword fighting contest.”

They all turn to look at Sky, who blushes with a sheepish smile.

“I would pay money to see you wipe the floor with these idiots,” Legend states with a grin.

“Same,” Four adds.

“I have twelve rupees,” Hyrule offers.

And like clockwork, all eyes turn to him. “You only have twelve rupees?” Sky asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Wait…” Hyrule digs around in his satchel for a moment, tongue poking out as he fishes around for something. With an “aha!” he pulls out a blue rupee. “Make that thirteen!”

“That would make seventeen,” Four corrects.

“Wait,” Hyrule studies his rupee with a scrutinizing eye, comparing it to the other rupees in his hands—which are all green. “Different color rupees have different values?”

Legend, Four, and Sky all take a moment to just _stare_ at Hyrule in varying degrees of confusion. When Hyrule only looks just as confused as them, Legend rolls his eyes and digs around in his wallet. He pulls out two purple rupees and thrusts them into Hyrule’s arms.

“And now you have one hundred and seventeen. Purples are worth fifty each, blues are worth five each. Go buy some food.”

“Thanks!” With that, the kid speeds off with stars in his eyes.

“And reds are worth twenty!” Legend yells after him, but he doubts Hyrule even hears him, because he’s already gone and disappeared into the crowd. _Note to self, Hyrule gets lost easily, but he’s also easy to lose._

“You’re a natural,” Four comments with a smirk.

“I’m a natural at everything,” Legend replies smoothly before he pauses. “What am I a natural at now?”

“The Snow Festival,” Sky chirps.

“Or the Gifting Season,” Four adds. “Whatever you wanna call it.”

Legend scoffs, not liking where this is going. “If I didn’t give him _something_ , he would have kept muttering about food.”

“You don’t just give people things,” Four points out.

“Especially not money,” Sky adds with a proud smile. “I expected you to _buy_ him food, not shove a hundred rupees into his hands and send him off.”

Legend goes to retort, only to realize that they’re _right_ and he has a lack of a comeback when he could really use one. Goddesses above, it’s been five minutes, and he’s already made a fool of himself. 

“If I gave you a hundred rupees to shut up, would we drop this conversation?” Legend hisses.

Four holds out a hand, smirking with a raised eyebrow. Sky shakes his head, holding both hands up and taking a small step back as he begins to go on about how he doesn’t need to do that and that the money would be better used for something else.

_These two…_

Four and Sky begin walking, leaving Legend to follow lest he gets separated in the crowd. They mill about the various stalls, poking at trinkets, chatting with the vendors, grabbing some free samples of treats here and there. Despite all of that, Legend can’t help it as his mind wanders. There’s always a deeper motive to these kind of things, and it’s certainly never because of a kind gesture. Things like that are very rare and far in between.

“So what’s the _real_ point of these festivals,” Legend asks as Sky experimentally plucks at the strings of a cheap, wooden harp. “Is it meant to be a money grab, a political thing, what’s the deal?”

“Money _is_ important for a village to thrive,” Sky replies with a soft smile on his face. “A money grab wouldn’t be _incorrect_ , but that’s certainly not the only thing a festival is for.”

Sky places the harp down and meets his gaze, icy blue eyes to icy blue eyes as he holds up a hand and gestures to their surroundings.

“Look around and tell me what you see.”

Legend blinks, but does as he says, too curious to question Sky’s motives. Four is talking with a blacksmith across the street, arms gesturing excitedly as they look at an intricately designed sword. Beyond them, Twilight and Wind are playing some kind of fishing game, knocking their shoulders together as they eagerly reel in the fake fishing poles. Time is supervising them, placing a red rupee on a small table with a gesture to Wind. The man next to him laughs, slapping down a red rupee of his own. Wild and Hyrule _fly_ through the crowd, expertly weaving between the throng of people with joyful shouts all while Warriors chases them down with a plethora of curses and threats pouring from his mouth.

“I see our companions being… themselves,” Legend replies with a snort.

Sky’s smile widens. “Look a little harder.”

Look a little harder? What else is there for him to see? He’s already gotten over the shock of seeing so many happy people in one place. They are all dancing together, playing games together, laughing and talking and…

It clicks.

Legend stares at the crowd of people in a new light. They _are_ happy, yes, but there’s more than that. They are mingling, groups of friends meeting other groups of friends. Children are reaching out to other children, customers are engaging in friendly talks with vendors, all the dancers are swapping partners every couple of minutes…

“Unity,” Legend answers.

Sky moves to stand next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder and slipping a tiny, wooden carving of a bird into his hold. “Festivals bring people together. They bring happiness while also allowing the village to make a profit. It’s a delicate balance, but all parties thrive. The people continue to support their home, and their home can provide more because of it.”

Four appears on Legend’s other side, eyes glinting red and violet. “It’s not a power grab at all,” he explains. “Festivals are so important because they keep us together, both during times of strife and times of peace.”

Keep the people together, huh? Is that so different from the nights he has spent with the rest of his companions; sitting around the fire and telling stories, sparring, pranking each other, and so on? Is that not what truly brought them all together? They weren’t friends to begin with, and Legend had _no_ plans to establish any sort of bond with any of them, and now look where he is.

Their spontaneous companionship can only get them so far. Little things like bantering to important things like protecting each other… that’s what really brings them together.

“Small gifts can go a long way,” Sky says, and Legend tightens his hold on the bird.

Unity had never once crossed his mind. He finds that he is grateful that he now knows how powerful unity is.

Legend leans into Sky’s touch, and he doesn’t stop Four from linking their arms together. “Thanks,” he says, hoping they understand how badly his words are escaping him, hoping they understand just how much they have opened Legend’s eyes in more ways than one.

Sky lightly bumps their heads together. “You’re welcome.”

“Anything for a friend,” Four adds, learning against Legend’s arm.

But of course, the moment doesn’t last very long.

Hyrule scrambles up to them, arms wrapped around a giant bag of treats. “Hide me, hide me!” He yells, frantically looking over his shoulder. Following his gaze, Legend sees Warriors spinning around in circles, trying to ignore the distractions courtesy of Wild. He looks _pissed._

Legend rolls his eyes with a smile. “Come on,” he says, pulling away from Sky just enough for Hyrule to slip past and duck down behind them. He resumes his position, giving Warriors a small wave when he looks over and doesn’t find his culprit.

“Thank you!” Hyrule chirps, though it sounds suspiciously muffled.

“You owe me one of those snickerdoodle cookies,” Legend says in reply, reaching back to ruffle his hair.

If he’s smiling more than he usually does, nobody says anything. But that’s alright, because these moments are fleeting, and he wants to enjoy them while they last. They are at a festival, after all.


	3. The Unknown Ballad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And yet ANOTHER SS for Jin!! :D  
> She wanted Legend and Hyrule content.  
> I hope you enjoy!  
> Warning Tags: Little bit of Angst, Hurt/Comfort.  
> Original publish date: Jan 1st  
> Summary:
> 
> But before he can get too reminiscent of his past, before he can get sucked back into the storm he didn’t even realize was building back up, Hyrule perks up in the corner of Legend’s eye. “Hey, wait a minute! I know this one!”
> 
> Legend abruptly stops, the note he was playing ending in a weird, sharp noise that would normally make him wince if he was not currently frozen in shock.
> 
> “What?” He mumbles around the mouthpiece. Hyrule nods, a bright smile on his face.
> 
> “Yeah!” He chirps. “I’ve known that song since I was a kid! It’s a ridiculously old song!”
> 
> _What in the fuck…?_

_“Sleepers wake_

_Dreams will fade_

_Although we cling fast…”_   
  


_Her smile is more radiant than the sun as she sings. Her is hair the color of fire in the afternoon light, accentuating her tanned skin and standing out against her light blue dress._

_Playing the next part of the song on his ocarina is almost natural, fingers finding their places without his bidding. He has heard her sing so many times, and each time is as serene as the last. It’s nice to finally be able to join in, even if the ocarina doesn’t sound nearly as lovely as her voice._

_Goddesses above, he’s such a sap._

_“Was it real_

_What we saw?_

_I believe…”_

_He stares at the mural, eyes flying over the carvings in the stone and the ancient paint that’s beginning to fade and chip. The words aren’t… they don’t make any sense…_

_“ **To the finder, the Isle of Koholint is but an illusion,** ” he recites for the umpteenth time. “ **Human, monster, sea, sky, all on the lid of a sleeper’s eye.** ”_

_He knows what the words say. Deep down, he **knows** , but… but it can’t be true. It can’t be, right?_

_“ **Awake the dreamer, and Koholint will vanish much like a bubble on a needle.** ”_

_Why did the owl tell him to come here? These are all just riddles and ramblings! None of this makes sense. How can an entire island vanish?_

_But then again… how can he discover an island that doesn’t exist? There **is** no Koholint island._

_“ **Castaway… you should know the truth!** ”_

_He spins around on his heel and flees the shrine, the air suddenly too thick, the darkness beyond the light of the torches pressing in on him. He stumbles over his feet, a hand flying to press against the cool stone wall for balance._

_The sunlight is near blinding when he stumbles outside. He leans against the entrance, his head spinning as the words replay over and over in his mind. He vaguely hears the owl tell him that nobody is truly sure if Koholint is a dream, but frankly, he calls bullshit._

_The owl told him to come here. It knows **exactly** what the truth is._

_And now, he has yet another burden to shoulder._

_“Lost in dreams_

_We sleep on_

_Tossing and turning…”_

_The Nightmare… it’s **his**. His arms tremble as he tightens his grip on his sword and shield. He thought the other forms of the Nightmare were coincidental—he thought a **lot** of things on this island were coincidental. But now, a silhouette of Ganon looms over him, spinning his staff and letting out a laugh that’s distorted to his ears._

_The Nightmare is **his**. The other monsters scattered around this island are either amalgamations he has never seen before, or monsters from his past, and it’s because of this… **thing**! This really **is** some twisted dream!_

_But if the monsters are his, if the **Nightmare** is his, does that mean he caused everything to happen? Is he the reason for all the strife and fear caused by the influx of monsters?_

_Not for the first time, he wonders what will happen when he wakes the Windfish as he fights with tooth and nail against his own nightmares._

_“Stay with me_

_By my side_

_Never leave…”_

_He wakes up to the taste of salt in his mouth. His limbs are stiff and his body is heavy, but when he looks to the sky, he sees the Windfish soaring through the air, movements energetic and carefree. He feels a smile spread across his face. He did it, despite everything. He bested his own nightmares and he freed this deity… or at least he **thinks** the Windfish is a deity._

_But when he looks back to the island, he discovers that it’s not there. Only the vast sea and the horizon meet his eyes, and a glance in every other direction yields the same results as the Windfish flies far, far away._

_He’s alone, out in the middle of the ocean, mouth dry, back screeching in pain with every movement, stomach twisting and churning, head pounding. His hands tremble as he raises them, and he sees blood coating each finger, dripping onto his tunic and staining it._

_He’s alone…_

_Koholint is gone… because of **him**._

_He woke the Windfish. The Nightmares told him this island would disappear. They **warned** him. The mural back in the shrine **warned him**._

_And like a fool, like a blind-eyed hero, **he didn’t listen**._

_He… he destroyed an entire island._

_He knows, because the sea is tainted red with their blood. The waves carry their dying shrieks, and his hands do little to block them out, as they’re stained with their blood, their remains. He stole everything from them._

**_“Why, Link?”_ ** _She cries, **“We warned you! Why did you not listen to us? Why did you forsake us? Why did you forget? Did I really mean nothing to you?”**_

_“I’m sorry.” His whispers are lost amongst the screaming. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry—“_

Legend’s eyes fly open as he sits up with a gasp. The glow of the moon illuminates the bodies of his companions—his _sleeping_ companions—in the beds beside him. He takes a deep breath, holds it, then releases it slowly, grabbing a fistful of the sheets beside him to ground himself.

That goddess damn dream again.

It’s bad enough that he already feels an indescribable guilt and grief whenever his thoughts drift toward his fourth adventure, but to have his mind twist and warp it into a nightmare? The irony stings every time.

A glance outside the window shows the moon beginning to set. The first time they manage to land a spot in an inn after weeks of traveling, and Legend gets nightmares. Fucking _brilliant._

_“What if the worst comes?_

_If someday this sweet reverie ends?”_

He can’t just sit here. He needs to move around and do something, or else his mind will destroy every wall he’s built up to keep the emotions at bay. Legend throws the blankets off of him and stands, grabbing his ocarina instinctively and tip-toeing to the door—not wanting to disturb Four or Hyrule. He needs some fresh air.

The door creaks as he opens it, but Legend manages to slip out without making too much noise. He quietly shuts it, takes approximately five steps away, takes approximately five significantly quieter steps back, then stops and waits.

“And three… two… one,” he mutters under his breath.

Just as the last word leaves his lips, the door opens again and Hyrule pokes his head out. He stares at Legend for a solid five seconds before slowly closing the door. Legend shoves his foot in the opening before it can fully close, and immediately regrets it because he didn’t put on his boots like an _idiot_.

“You’re just gonna follow me anyway, so come on,” Legend tells him before spinning around and stalking away silently. He hears Hyrule scramble after him, footsteps light and quick on the wooden floor.

They are down the stairs and out the door in minutes, Hyrule tailing Legend like a shadow as he makes a beeline for the patch of woodland just beyond the tiny village they have found themselves in. Hyrule catches up to him as Legend begins fighting his way through the bushes, and he finds that he envies the other hero right in that moment, if only because Hyrule is much better at navigating a forest than he is.

_“We too…_

_Our memories, for real_

_Fade us by…”_

“I need to clear my head,” Legend says, gritting his teeth when he steps on a particularly sharp twig.

“I can tell,” Hyrule replies quietly.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Legend mutters, glancing at Hyrule over his shoulder.

“You were… talking in your sleep.”

Ah. Of course he was.

Legend shoves a low hanging branch out of his way, holding it just long enough for Hyrule to duck underneath before letting it fly back with an oddly satisfying _whoosh_ sound. Turning his gaze forward, the two find themselves in a small clearing, an old rotting log sticking out from the bushes and undergrowth. Legend makes a beeline for it, plopping down with a sigh and fingering the ocarina. He may have grabbed it without even thinking, but that doesn’t mean he knows what he should do with it. He could always play it, but the only song on his mind is dangerously close to breaking him as it is.

Hyrule hesitantly sits down beside him, sitting just far enough away so they don’t touch. He twiddles his thumbs, looking up at the twisted branches that conceal the night sky.

_“Dream with me, by the sea…_

_We watch the waves crash…”_

“What are you waiting for?” Legend asks him, making the other hero turn to gaze at him. “You said you heard me talking in my sleep. You must have questions. That’s why you followed me, isn’t it?”

“I want to ask you a _lot_ of things, Legend,” Hyrule replies in a blunt tone. “But you need to clear your head.”

That’s… not what Legend was expecting to hear. At all. He was expecting something more along the lines of a game of words, careful questions with careful answers all tied together with hidden meanings until one of them cracks.

But then again, that’s something maybe Twilight or Sky would do. This is _Hyrule_ , who either says nothing about the subject or gets straight to the point.

All the wound up energy in Legend melts away. His shoulders slump, his arms go limp in his lap, his back relaxes, and a deep breath of the cool nighttime air settles his churning stomach and calms his nerves. No interrogations tonight.

“Thanks,” Legend murmurs, causing Hyrule to snort.

“I didn’t really do anything, but you’re welcome.”

“That’s exactly why I’m thankful.” Legend waves a hand, gesturing to the serene setting around them. “It’s _quiet_. I don’t wanna ruin it with fucking Twenty Questions or some other bullshit.”

That gets a laugh out of Hyrule, and Legend can’t help but chuckle at his current situation. Here he is, sharing a laugh with a friend over what’s essentially small-talk instead of being forced to discuss heavy feelings and relive his past. It’s a nice change of pace, and the grief and pain in his heart is slowly dissipating from a raging storm into the dull roar it normally is.

“Well,” Hyrule says after their laughs die down, “you brought your ocarina. Know any songs you could play? I’ve never heard you play before.”

The mention of the ocarina _should_ bring everything to a screeching halt. The nightmare, the memories, the damn _feelings_ , everything should be hitting him like a moblin right now, because that’s how it _works_. That’s how it _always_ works.

Instead, Legend finds that he feels a strange sort of peace as he looks down at the instrument in consideration. Maybe it’s because he knows he doesn’t have to keep his guard completely up right now, maybe it’s because despite the nightmare, he’s relaxed and in good company. Either way, he shrugs and decides _fuck it_.

Besides, he knows more than one song.

“Alright,” Legend says, lifting the instrument up to his lips. Hyrule watches him eagerly as Legend takes a minute to decide on which song to play first before letting his fingers fly. He plays a medley of all the songs he’s picked up, ranging from short tunes like the one he used to call the bird back on his first adventure to songs he heard while in the bar in Lorule. On and on, Legend plays his songs, a light, airy feeling settling in his chest and chasing away all the negative energy within.

He holds the final note of Nayru’s song for just a second before deciding to end his little performance off with the Ballad of the Windfish. It’s only fitting, even if the song leaves him feeling melancholy. It’s been a long time since the melody has reached his ears in the waking world, and while it’s not nearly as good as when Marin sings it, the ocarina isn’t a bad substitute—never mind the fact that he’s never been great at playing the ocarina.

But before he can get too reminiscent of his past, before he can get sucked back into the storm he didn’t even realize was building back up, Hyrule perks up in the corner of Legend’s eye. “Hey, wait a minute! I know this one!”

Legend abruptly stops, the note he was playing ending in a weird, sharp noise that would normally make him wince if he was not currently frozen in shock.

“What?” He mumbles around the mouthpiece. Hyrule nods, a bright smile on his face.

“Yeah!” He chirps. “I’ve known that song since I was a kid! It’s a ridiculously old song!”

_What in the fuck…?_

“You know this song?” Legend asks, mind whirling as he tries not to gape at Hyrule. He can’t be hearing this right. No way.

But Hyrule scoffs, raising an eyebrow at Legend’s perplexed expression. “I just said I did.”

“Okay,” Legend states, lowering his ocarina and turning so that way he’s fully facing Hyrule. He crosses his legs and rests his elbows on his knees, propping his chin up with his hands and narrowing his eyes at Hyrule. “Explain.”

Hyrule blinks. “Explain what?”

“How in Din’s name you know the Ballad of the Windfish,” Legend snaps.

“ _That’s_ what it’s called?” Hyrule gasps, and Legend fights the urge to rip his hair out.

“ _Yes_ ,” he hisses. “Now will you _please_ explain?”

“Um,” Hyrule shrinks into himself, shoulders hunching and head ducking down. Legend mentally kicks himself. Hyrule might not beat around the bush, but the kid is still shy and self conscious of himself. Legend shouldn’t let his utter stupor scare him away.

“Everybody knows that song,” Hyrule explains, both to Legend’s relief and ever-growing shock. “People sing it in taverns, inns, street performances, you name it. We never knew what it was called, only that it was a ballad of sorts.”

So it’s not only Hyrule, but his _entire_ _time period?_

“It predates… almost everything,” He adds. “Everything except you.”

Legend looks down at where his ocarina sits innocently in his limp hands.

_“Please never forget this song… or me.”_

It’s practically impossible for Legend to forget. He’s convinced his mind has been physically altered so that way whenever he hears the song, he reacts instinctively whether he wants to or not. He’ll never stop hearing that sweet yet somber melody in his dreams, he’ll never get the image of fiery red hair and sparkling brown eyes out of his head, he’ll never forget the pure content and happiness he felt whenever he heard her voice.

But he never thought her song would be immortalized like this. He never thought to even _share_ the song with anyone else. Nobody else knows this song but him, after all.

Which begs the question…

“Who composed it?” Legend asks.

Hyrule shrugs. “I don’t know. Nobody does. Some say it was written by a prince centuries ago, some say a well-known traveler appeared in Hyrule one day and shared the song with us.” The kid smiles, fantasies and dreams dancing in his eyes as he gazes at something only he can see. “It’s fascinating to think about.”

He turns his eyes to Legend then, excitement radiating off his body. “But you know the name of the song! Do _you_ know who composed it?”

Technically, a giant flying whale composed the song for a pretty girl to sing. But what Hyrule was saying… a prince from centuries prior? A well-known traveler appearing in the kingdom? Those aren’t far off from what Legend _is._

And Legend sure as hell isn’t going to forget the song.

_“If I was a seagull, I would fly as far as I could! I would fly to faraway places and sing for many people!”_

Marin will never be able to do that, but that doesn’t mean Legend can’t.

It was her dream, after all, to sing for many people. Even if she never existed, even if she was just a shared dream between him and some deity, she still had desires and wishes.

Legend can do more than remember her. Her name may disappear, but Legend will give her a legacy to be proud of.

“Nobody has composed it,” Legend answers carefully.

Hyrule deflates in disappointment. “Nobody?”

Legend nods, failing to fight the smirk spreading across his face. “Nobody. Not yet at least.”

Hyrule blinks, and Legend waits for him to process his words. _And three… two… one._

“ _You’re_ going to compose it!” Hyrule yells, pointing a finger at him. “Of _course_ you’re going to compose it! What _haven’t_ you done?”

Legend snorts. “Well, I certainly didn’t _write_ the song.”

“Then who did?” Hyrule demands, scooting closer to him on the log. Legend bites back a laugh at his antics. It’s rather endearing to see someone who was forced to grow up far too early act like an excited child.

“The girl of my dreams, of course,” Legend replies easily. “Or at least, she’s the one who taught me the song.”

“The girl of your dreams, huh?” Hyrule grins. Legend mirrors it.

“Yup.”

A moment of silence passes before Hyrule narrows his eyes.

“You’re not just gonna leave me with that, are you?”

“I sure am.”

Hyrule throws his head back and lets out a loud, exaggerated groan. “ _Seriously?_ You can’t just drop something like that on me and _not_ elaborate on it!”

“I can and I will,” Legend chuckles.

“ _Legend!_ ”

His chuckle grows into a laugh that bubbles out from his chest. “I told you I wasn’t going to play fucking Twenty Questions or some other bullshit!”

Hyrule crosses his arms and pouts—no, wait, he _sulks_ , and that just sends Legend into borderline hysterics.

“I cannot believe you,” he mutters, but he’s got a tiny smile on his face. “You really won’t tell me _anything?_ ”

“Only in your dreams, Hyrule,” Legend laughs, eliciting another groan from him.

“That was _bad_.”

“You could say it was _nightmarish._ ”

“Legend, _shut the fuck up._ ”

They must look ridiculous, sitting in a forest in the middle of the night and laughing over bad puns and coincidences. Legend couldn’t care less right now, too busy feeling a rare kind of happiness that has him leaning against Hyrule, accidentally knocking their heads together a little too hard and causing them to laugh even more. It’s sweet, innocent, and exactly what Legend needed tonight after such a bad dream.

He slings an arm around Hyrule’s shoulders, and his smile widens when Hyrule automatically wraps an arm around his back, leaning into his hold. “Thanks for being a pain in my ass, ‘Rule,” Legend chuckles.

“You’re welcome, jackass,” Hyrule returns with a giggle.

They don’t stay out much longer, as eventually their giggle fits die down, replaced with the heavy feeling of tiredness. Tomorrow morning is going to _suck_ , but the lack of sleep was worth it in Legend’s opinion.

He certainly won’t feel that way in the morning, but that’s not important.

They are making their way back to the inn when Legend is suddenly struck by an epiphany. He abruptly stops walking, eyes widening as he goes over his newly acquired information in his mind. Hyrule takes a couple more steps before realizing Legend’s absence, turning around and giving him a curious look.

“What’s wrong?” He asks.

Legend takes a moment to reply, mouth opening and closing a couple times like a fish out of water before his words finally come back to him.

“I think we just caused a paradox.”

Hyrule blinks, then slaps a hand to his forehead. “Oh, for the _love of Nayru!_ ”


	4. Thread By Thread

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is so LATE ARGH!!  
> My final SS for my dear friend Nickel on discord :D  
> I am so sorry I’m so late. But to make it up to you, according to the word doc, this is 6666 words long!  
> ...  
> This really got out of hand, but it was fun regardless. I hope you enjoy!  
> Warning tags: Lots of anxiety, hurt/comfort I guess?? A lil bit??  
> Summary: 
> 
> “I don’t know how to feel, Twilight,” he blurts out, though he can’t say he’s sure why. Maybe it’s that guilt he just felt. Maybe it’s because his mind is still in pieces. “What am I supposed to feel?”
> 
> When Twilight doesn’t answer, Four looks up at him to see confusion clear on his face—and _only_ confusion.
> 
> “W-well…” Twilight fumbles for words, which only causes a bolt of raw anxiety to strike. Four bites back another whimper, but he can do nothing to stop his body from shaking.
> 
> “What _do_ you feel?” Twilight asks.

For a long time, people told Four he was mature beyond his years.

He believed them. He saved his entire kingdom from Vaati for the first time when he was merely ten years old. That takes a level of maturity most other children that age don’t have.

But his next adventures? They challenged everything that Four believed in. They challenged him, and they broke him over and _over_ until he cried out for mercy in the form of shoving himself back together.

He still remembers the pain he felt when he first drew the Four Sword—a sword made by both his own hands and with the help of the Minish. He still remembers how he felt himself rip apart inside, every stitch that made up the fabric of his mind tearing and tearing and _tearing_ until there were only scraps left, hastily sewn back together into four separate bodies, and later, patched together to remake himself—only for the process to repeat itself a second time.

And to this day, Four doesn’t think he’s ever been fixed. To this day, Four still feels utterly _broken_ despite physically looking whole and despite feeling perfectly fine.

There are jagged pieces in Four’s mind, and the edges of them don’t quite fit together. Instead, they have been forced together, scraping against one another and sometimes breaking even more. There’s a constant war within him now, a turmoil that pulls him in several different directions until he’s left dizzy and confused.

This… _changed_ his outlook on life. He’s seventeen years old now, but is he mature beyond his years or is he regarded that way because his emotions no longer match up?

If someone is mad at him, does he get mad back like Blue would and fight? Does he get sad like Red would because this person is mad? Does he get curious to know what caused the anger like Vio? Does he stubbornly ignore it like Green? _What does he do?_

Meeting the other reincarnations of himself has both put a damper on his progress of understanding himself and has enlightened him. Other heroes from across the ages, other heroes who saved the world like _him_ , appeared and out of nowhere one day, and he thought they were just like him.

Turns out, they couldn’t be more different.

It’s not a bad thing, but Four had hoped that he wasn’t the only one like this; broken beyond repair, stitched together to make a ragged, misshapen person. They all have had their ups and downs, but none of them have been mentally shattered and pieced together like he has—to his knowledge, at least.

It’s an incredibly lonely feeling knowing that despite everything, Four continues to be the only one who’s not… whole. Even centuries into the future, across different time periods and ages, Four has yet to find another person like him; broken in a different way than the others.

And yet, it’s relieving to know that he’s not alone in this hero business—and it’s relieving to know that none of the others have gone through what he has. He doesn’t doubt what they went through was hard and taxing on their mentality, but it’s not the same.

They know how they should feel about a topic; he sees it all the time. Legend will always get offended when called out for being a softy. Twilight will always be protective of the others—himself included. Warriors will always appear confident during their planning periods. Wind will always be jovial during dinnertime. So on, so forth. They all have a set reaction, an _emotion_ that’s perfect for their personalities in every scenario.

And once upon a time, Four did too. But now… How does he _do that_? How does he know which emotion is _correct_?

Does he think Time is a grumpy old man who needs to lay off, or does he think Time is wise and reliable? Does he think Wild is a bit too eccentric or admirable? Does he think Sky is a pushover or kindhearted? Does he think Hyrule is hopeless with directions or adventurous? What is he supposed to think? What’s the _right_ way to describe his new friends?

Even watching them now, Four still can’t come to a conclusion. Sky is weaving a tale together that has Wind and Hyrule absolutely entranced while Legend pretends to not enjoy the story. Twilight and Warriors are playing some kind of board game that has to do with tactics—Chess, if he remembers correctly—while Wild watches, head swiveling back and forth between the two players with wide eyes as he carefully watches them make each move. Judging by the expressions on their faces, Twilight appears to be winning. Time sits next to Four, a steady presence beside him as he observes the camp with a small smile. They are all so complicated to Four, so different from the other people he has met on his journeys.

“What’s the plan for tomorrow?” Four asks Time both in an attempt to distract himself from his dizzying thoughts and to satisfy the part of him that wants to prepare adequately for what challenges may appear. Time’s smile grows, a fond look in his eye that does _nothing_ to help Four’s current predicament.

“We’re almost to where I wanted to go,” Time answers cryptically, much to Four’s chagrin. “Tomorrow shouldn’t be strenuous. It’s peaceful in these parts.”

“Is that why you’re not ushering us off to bed right now?” Four teases, getting an amused huff from the older hero.

“If I’m being honest with you, the thought hadn’t even crossed my mind,” Time says. “But a late night won’t hurt us this time around, so we’ll go with that.”

They share a chuckle, but they are promptly interrupted when Warriors suddenly stands up, arms in the air and the board game flipped over with all the pieces scattered everywhere.

“Fuck this!” He yells, before jabbing a finger at Twilight. “Fuck you! This game is _bullshit_!”

Warriors storms off, stomping into the woods while angrily muttering under his breath. Four watches as Wild and Twilight slowly turn to stare at each other while Sky and the others look over curiously.

“Isn’t this Warriors’ game?” Wild asks as Twilight starts picking up all the pieces.

“Yeah, and he _sucks_ at it,” he replies with a laugh.

Time rolls his eye. “I think that’s as good of an omen as any,” he murmurs to Four before standing up. “We should probably get some sleep,” he tells everyone else. “I’ll go fetch Warriors.”

“Good luck dealing with that,” Legend calls after him, earning a sharp elbow in his side by Sky.

“We should do as he says,” Sky states while Legend rubs his side with a muttered, “Ow!”

But as Four is setting up his bedroll, his mind whirls and whirls. Was he supposed to find that outburst funny? Or immature? Or perhaps annoying? Why doesn’t he already know this? Why is this so hard?

When did something as simple as a reaction get so complicated?

* * *

Four thought he was confused before.

Oh how wrong he was.

Malon is an utter sweetheart, sassy and fiery but with a heart of gold underneath. She takes them in without batting an eye, as happy to meet them as she is to see her husband again. 

And she throws the biggest wrench in Four’s analysis of Time.

Before, Four had seen Time as a stoic leader—playful at times, but mostly detached and wary with a troubled past he keeps under lock and key. But seeing him around Malon…

He’s a completely different person now.

No longer is he this intimidating figure who constantly pushes them to keep moving with a glare that sends shivers down your spine, or this mysterious person who laughs at their attempts to get to know them better. Instead, Four sees… a happy man.

A happy, normal man who looks like he had a rough past but eventually found happiness in a simple life. A happy, normal man who has learned how to love despite previous trauma.

Four’s brain is short-circuited.

If he didn’t know better, Four would say Time got his hands on his sword when he wasn’t looking. It’s a complete 180! And while Four’s differing emotions can generally be summed up as positive, he still doesn’t know how he should feel about Time. And what about the others? Sure, they act the same now, but what if they have a side to them that was buried away like Time’s was? What then?

This is so confusing, and it’s doing nothing but causing him massive headaches. How is he supposed to feel? What emotion is right? The part of him that’s Green says Time is still the leader type but he’s also a big softy like Legend is, and the part of him that’s Vio argues that Time is _not_ the kind of softy Legend is at all!

Should he ask the others about their opinions on Time? No, no, he can’t do that! That will only make him look weird! And it’s not like it’ll help anyway, because nobody else seems to have this problem! He doesn’t want to give away his secret. Not yet, and especially not over something so trivial.

So to distract his scampering thoughts, Four busies his hands in making horseshoes for the horses, the familiarity of smithery putting him at ease. He needs to pull himself together and get a handle on all these differing emotions causing so much conflict within. He had balance before drawing the Four Sword, he had balance _after_ his adventures, and now he needs to achieve it once more.

Piece of cake.

* * *

  
It is decidedly _not_ a piece of cake.

It’s been weeks now, and Four _still_ has no idea what’s going on. But currently, that’s not the problem.

“Does anyone know where we are?” He hears Warriors shout over the raging snowstorm.

“Not a clue!” Sky shouts back.

They are lost in the mountains after venturing through a portal, white snow and dark clouds the only things in sight. The snow is up to at least Four’s waist, and he’s slowly sinking further and further down.

“Uh,” Four holds his arms up, hands scrabbling for purchase in the snow as he continues to sink lower and lower. “A little help!”

“I’ve got you!” Hands slip under his armpits and yank him up, and the next thing Four knows, he’s sitting on one of Twilight’s shoulders, a hand pressed against his leg to keep him steady. When Four looks down, he sees that the snow is almost up to Twilight’s knees, but he’s not sinking.

_Must’ve been a pit or something_ , he thinks.

“Keep an eye out for landmarks!” Time bellows from behind, his voice easily cutting through the white noise of the blazing winds. “And stay together!”

“Put me down!” Wind’s yells, and through the storm, Four can see the lean form of Warriors grabbing Wind’s arm and yanking him closer. Considering the height of the snow, it’s not easy for either party.

“You are _way_ too short to traverse this,” Warriors admonishes. “Hell, _I’m_ barely tall enough to walk through all this snow! You’re sitting on my shoulders.”

He can imagine Wind is grumbling—hell, he can practically hear it as he sees him lifted up onto Warriors’s shoulders. Up ahead, he can see Sky, Wild, and Legend fighting their way through the snow, Sky and Wild helping Legend due to his height, and Four would _love_ to be able to hear _that_ conversation, because he’s sure Wild is pushing all of Legend’s buttons right now.

That leaves Hyrule, who must be behind them with Time. Casting a glance back, at first he only sees Time struggling through the snow, then he sees a second head rise from where it must’ve been leaning against Time’s shoulder, and Four recognizes the mess of dark hair immediately. Hyrule is being carried piggyback style, probably due to the snow and Time being tall enough to keep him out of its depths.

Twilight carries him easily through the snow, despite the large awkward steps he’s taking. Four reaches down to tug his wolf-pelt hoodie up, pulling his own hood up while Twilight shoots him an amused but grateful grin, ducking his head down and shifting his hand to make Four’s life easier.

“Thanks,” he says, though it’s nearly lost in the wind.

“Stay warm!” Four shouts back, and he feels more than hears Twilight laugh, his shoulder shaking underneath him. He can’t say he feels the same amusement. He hasn’t been a fan of snowy weather since his third adventure, where Blue was frozen solid for _days._ He shakes his head, dispelling the small twinge of fear at the thought of that happening again.

They trek on for what has to be hours, shivering and unsteady. Wild falls back to them at some point, wearing a doublet, snow boots, and a different pair of earrings. He shoves a circlet into Four’s hands and tries to give Twilight a thick tunic, but he shakes his head.

“Give it to someone else,” He tells him. “I at least have my pelt. That’s good enough for me.”

Wild looks like he wants to argue, but a stern look from Twilight sends him running back to Time and Hyrule. Four slips the circlet on and feels a warmth spread from his head down through the rest of his tiny body. Huh. He’ll have to interrogate Wild about that later.

During their long hike, Twilight nearly falls into another pit but manages to scramble out before the snow can fully give way and trap them, Wild falls _flat_ on his face, Legend laughs about Wild falling flat on his face for the next hour, they weave through a pine forest and nearly get turned around, they fend off several packs of angry wolves with surprisingly little difficulty, Wild falls flat on his face again, Twilight adjusts Four so that way he’s on both of Twilight’s shoulders instead of just the one, Wind starts singing an obnoxious song only for Warriors to dump him into the snow, Sky falls back to walk with them and asks Four about the Flameblade Wild allowed him to borrow for warmth—another thing to interrogate Wild about—while Twilight mumbles about how weird magic is, Wild falls on flat on his face _again,_ and Legend throws a snowball at him while yelling for him to pay attention.

It’s… a long trek.

But eventually, they stumble across an abandoned building of sorts. Nobody recognizes the old stone, but nobody answers when they knock, so they let themselves in only to find the place absolutely covered in cobwebs and dust. Wind lets out a series of sneezes, groaning and holding a hand to his nose.

“This is the Earth Temple all over again,” he mumbles, sounding slightly congested.

“I’ll take dust over the storm outside any day,” Legend gripes, shrugging off his parka.

“There are no hidden pits inside,” Wild adds with a sour expression on his face.

“There’s an old fireplace over here!” They hear Sky call from further inside. “Someone grab some flint!”

“Sky, just swing the Flameblade at it!” Wild yells back.

“ _What?_ ” Sky sounds just as appalled as part of Four feels. Wild rolls his eyes and follows Sky’s voice.

“Just use the sword!” He sounds exasperated, as if Sky is making a big deal over nothing. Swinging a sword with the power to control flames inside a _building_ is bound to cause a disaster, stone walls or not.

“Uh, guys?” Twilight utters as everyone else begins taking off their weapons and items. “Where are Time and Hyrule?”

Four looks around, startled to find that the two Twilight mentioned are nowhere to be found. In fact, he hadn’t heard much come from them while in their trek…

With his heart in his throat, Four whips around and sprints outside back into the snowstorm. His eyes burn as he wildly glances around, trying to spot either of them in the blank white world but to no avail.

_No, no, no…_ Four’s mind screams as he keeps looking, his chest feeling tight and his breaths getting shallower and shallower. He’s never been good with people he cares about going missing. He supposes nobody is, but if there’s one thing all four parts of himself can agree on, it’s that Four can’t _stand it_ when he doesn’t know where someone is. They could be lost, scared, hurt, _dead,_ who knows?

And considering it’s Time, who is physically one of the strongest in their group and seems to always know more than he lets on, and Hyrule, an experienced traveler who has far more tricks up his sleeves than anyone would have thought, who are currently missing just causes Four to panic even more. Time always makes sure to stay with them and to keep an eye on everyone—it’s why he’s always in the back of the group if he’s not leading them! And Hyrule might run off occasionally, but he never just _disappears_ without telling somebody!

This is bad. This is _really_ bad.

“Four!” He hears Twilight call.

“Where are they?” Four shouts back, his voice raising in pitch with each word. “I don’t see them anywhere!”

“Come back! It’s getting too dark!”

But Four is already running off into the storm, the circlet burning against his forehead and the snow nearly swallowing him whole. Twilight easily catches up to him, pulling him from the snow’s grasp and marching them back to the house. Four writhes in his hold, trying to push his arms off of him while wriggling persistently.

“Four,” he growls, “we can’t go looking for them right now!”

“We can’t just leave them out there!” Four protests. “They could be hurt o-or… or—”

“I know that!” Twilight barks. “But if we go out looking for them while it’s getting dark and with no signs of this storm dissipating, we’re only going to endanger ourselves!”

“They’ll die out there!”

“They’re just as resourceful as us! Have some faith in them! We can—“

But before Twilight can finish, Four lurches them forward. Twilight yelps, the snow causing him to stumble and the next thing Four knows, he and Twilight are submerged in a world of white and cold. Four struggles to pull himself out of the snow, finding that he can’t get a grip and that he’s only sinking further and further in…

_Oh fuck!_

Four opens his mouth to yell for help, but he only succeeds in getting a mouthful of snow. He feels Twilight shift in the snow beside him, which only makes it move faster as he continues to sink and sink and—

Suddenly, stale air rushes up from underneath him for just a second before Four lands on even more snow, the excess that was previously covering him landing on his body and all around him. Four gasps for air, clawing his way out of the pile and watching as Twilight falls down after him with a yell and lands on where Four was just lying. He shudders at what could have been before he can fully process what just happened.

Twilight groans, sitting up and pressing a hand to his head as more snow falls from above, landing both in his hair and all around him, increasing the size of the pile that broke their fall. “What the…”

Four snaps his head up, finally noticing the fact that they _fell_ when they were supposed to be on the ground. High above him and Twilight, snow drops down from a decently sized hole in what has to be the ceiling of a cave—the walls and ground lined with luminous stones glowing bright teal. Another look around shows that there are two ways out: the hole in the ceiling, or the tunnel branching off of the small cave they are in. Considering the fact that the cave is at least thrice the height of Twilight, Four concludes that they are probably going to have to explore the tunnel and hope it leads somewhere else.

Who knew the ground was so hollow, though.

Then it hits him.

_The pits Wild was tripping in… and when we first got here, I nearly sank in the snow…_

How big is this cave system? Or are there multiple caves? Did Hyrule and Time fall in one too? His heart nearly stops in his chest at the thought. What if they found a deeper one? What if they got hurt in the fall? What if the hole was so deep they broke their necks—

“Four!”

Twilight’s voice snaps him from his thoughts. Four looks back at him to see the other hero clambering to his feet and brushing off the snow. He looks to be on the verge of reprimanding him.

“Are you okay?” He demands, kneeling next to Four with his hands hovering over his small form. Four waves him off.

“I’m fine, it’s just—”

“Good to hear!” Twilight interrupts, eyes narrowing into a glare that stops Four’s voice from working correctly. “Maybe you’re fine enough to explain what the _fuck_ that was about?”

Four bristles. “We can’t just leave them out there!”

“But had you not fought me like that, we wouldn’t be in this situation right now!”

“Had you not tried to drag me back to the building instead of helping me look for our _friends,_ we wouldn’t be in this situation!” Four roars. How dare Twilight pin this on him! Four isn’t about to leave his friends out there in the blizzard or lost in a cave system!

_We shouldn’t keep arguing with him,_ Vio whispers in his mind. _We won’t get anywhere._

Four huffs, shoving his anger away and taking a deep breath. Vio is right; he needs to calm down and get ahold of himself. Vio’s appearance and the raw anger he just felt are bad signs. If he keeps going down this path, the four parts that make him whole will shatter and he’ll be forced to split, lest his body goes into shock as his mind shreds itself into pieces.

“Look,” Four says before Twilight can launch into his rebuttal, “we’re stuck here. We should try to find Hyrule and Time while we’re looking for a way out.”

“You don’t think the others will find us?” Twilight shoots back, significantly calmer but still quite angry. Understandable—or is it frustrating? “I’m sure they’re going to notice we’re missing as well.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Four agrees. “But do you think they’re going to find this hole?”

Twilight pauses. “You make an excellent point,” he admits with a sigh. “I’m sorry for snapping at you.”

Four rolls his eyes, holding out a hand for Twilight to shake. “I’m sorry for being a pain in the ass. Peace?”

Twilight grabs his hand and shakes it. “Peace. Now where to?”

Four feels the anxiety creep back in, settling in the pit of his stomach like a weight. There’s only one way they can go, and Four doesn’t like the possibilities that await them. Hyrule and Time—if they’re even down here—could be broken and bloody, trapped under rubble as they bleed out, or maybe they’re already dead from the fall—

“I guess that tunnel would be a good place to start,” Twilight comments, sauntering over to said tunnel and peering inside as Four scrambles after him.

“How are you so calm right now?” Four asks as they begin making their way through. He doesn’t like how narrow this tunnel is, and he can’t say he’s a big fan of how dark it’s getting either. He should’ve kept his lamp on him.

“I’m not,” Twilight answers back, much to Four’s surprise. “Honestly, it’s taking everything I have left to not start screaming right now.”

_Isn’t **that** a mood?_

“But what about you?” Twilight glances down at him, grey-blue eyes gleaming with unbridled concern. “Normally you’re a lot calmer yourself. What _was_ that back there?”

“I…” What is Four supposed to say? That he’s an anxious mess that’s slowly coming apart at the seams? That he’s trying so hard to understand why he can’t choose what specific emotion to feel in a situation?

“You’re doing it again,” Twilight states. “You don’t have to answer, but if this is going to be a reoccurring problem…”

“I-I’m…” Four wrings his hands, looking down to avoid Twilight’s gaze. “I’m not good with people disappearing.”

There’s a pause, and for a second, Four thinks he said something wrong, but then Twilight takes a deep breath and says, “Nobody is.”

“I know that,” Four bites out. “But… I get _bad_ , Twilight. I panic and I… I immediately jump to conclusions and I don’t think things through.”

The tunnel bends, sloping downward and getting impossibly colder as they go deeper and deeper underground. Only the luminous stones provide light now, illuminating a path for them to follow.

“I’ve always been this way,” Four continues, shivering as a chill begins to settle in his body despite the circlet. “For a while, I had a good handle on it, but lately I’ve been having a hard time.”

A warm hand claps down on his shoulder, and Four looks back up to see Twilight giving him a reassuring smile.

“I know exactly how you feel,” he replies. “I—“

Twilight stops walking abruptly, his hand tightening on Four’s shoulder. Following his gaze, Four looks down to find a stain on the grey stone at their feet.

A _red_ stain, and it doesn’t look old.

Four and Twilight don’t even exchange a glance at the sight of blood. They both immediately take off, knocking into each other and the walls as they clumsily make their way through the tunnel, eyes trained on the spotty trail of red. Sharp turn after sharp turn, steep slopes and tight spaces, on and on they race through the series of tunnels, the fear and panic and uncertainty radiating off their bodies as they go. It’s impossible to tell how much time passes in the dark, how long they’ve been running, how far they are underground. All Four knows is that Time and Hyrule may be at the end of this trail, and that’s enough to keep him going, Twilight hard on his heels.

One last sharp turn later, and Four _shatters._

The tunnel widens, which isn’t anything out of the ordinary, but it allows for more luminous stones to take root and shine in the darkness. Because of that, Four clearly sees the crumpled form of Hyrule lying on the ground, the stone underneath him glistening with his blood, his body limp and unmoving.   
  


Thread by thread, Four feels his mind rupture. The jagged pieces press against each other as he sprints over to Hyrule’s body, bits of them breaking off as they scrape together. Stitch by stitch, Four comes apart as he falls to his knees beside his friend, a hand fumbling for his sword.

_He’s dead!_ Red cries as Four feels a wave of anguish wash over his body. _We left him to die!_

_Why didn’t we notice he was gone earlier?_ Green wails as Four grips the handle of his sword so tightly his hands shake. _How did it come to this?_

Green and Red are joined by Blue and Vio, their voices screaming and _screaming_ and the fabric of his mind is ripping and _ripping_ and the emotions are pulling him every which way and he can’t, he _can’t—_

The bright white light of the Four Sword nearly blinds him as he feels its power cut him apart. Unlike the thread pulling and pulling until it snaps, the sword easily slices apart each fragment of himself with a smooth efficiency and remakes them into new bodies, different _people_.

Four is broken, and in his place are four fragile, incomplete _children_ who clutch at each other and at the warm body of Hyrule, anguish and grief and anger and shock clear in their cries, their expressions.

But then, something astonishing happens.

A loud groan comes from the body, silencing the four boys and freezing Twilight in his place. Cloudy green eyes blearily blink open as Hyrule turns his head and looks up at the four boys, who stare down at him in an utter stupor.

“That’s new,” he mumbles, eyes lazily flicking between each boy.

And just like that, the moment is _gone._

“ _That’s new?_ ” Blue bellows, throwing his arms up and smacking Green upside the head as he does so. “Are you _fucking serious?_ ”

Meanwhile, Red lets out a loud sob, hands fisting in Hyrule’s bloody tunic as he leans down and presses his face into his shoulder. A closer look shows that Hyrule is _far_ from death, looking a little pale in the face and sporting a deep wound in his side if the blood on the tunic he’s currently borrowing from Wild is anything to go by. Vio notices that his pupils are different sizes.

Definitely beat up, but not even _close_ to dying.

And yet, they still immediately thought the worst. Lost in a maze of tunnels, anxious about their missing companions, tired and hungry and cold, and then seeing Hyrule lying on the ground motionless…

Vio supposes it’s only natural, but the thought leaves a bad taste in the back of his throat.

Loud footsteps reach his ears, and Vio snaps his head up as they thunder closer and closer. Twilight appears in front of them, taking on a protective stance while Blue readies his sword.

Peering around Twilight, Vio sees the light of the luminous stones glinting off of Time’s armor as he appears from the opposite end of the tunnel with a flamespear at the ready. He immediately lowers the weapon when he spots them, letting out a sigh of relief.

“Good, it’s just you,” he says, walking up to Twilight. He looks beyond tired, shoulders slouched and eye half-lidded. “I’ve been looking for an exit for—“

He stops, finally noticing the fact that Red is still sobbing into Hyrule’s shoulder while the others stare at him in both a mixture of fear and stubbornness. Time looks between all four of them, studying each one carefully, before rolling his eye and pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I should’ve guessed,” he mutters. “I really should’ve seen that coming.”

“That’s not the kind of reaction I was expecting,” Green mumbles, rubbing his chin. Vio has a feeling there will be a bruise there tomorrow.

“Oh, I have a _lot_ of questions,” Time says as he moves to kneel on Hyrule’s other side. “But now’s not the time for them.”

“Hehe, time, hehe,” Blue snickers.

“Shut up,” Vio retorts. How are they the same person again?

“So what happened to Hyrule,” Twilight asks, hovering around them like a worried parent.

“There was a hole in the ground that the snow covered up,” Time explains, lifting Wild’s tunic to examine the injury underneath. From what Vio can make out, Hyrule’s tunic is ripped open and there’s a deep cut in his left side that’s been hastily wrapped up in what’s left of his normal clothes. He’s bleeding through it. “We fell through and a sharp rock cut him open. He also banged his head on the way down.”

“So did you,” Twilight adds, looking down at Time in scrutiny. “I can see the blood on your head.”

“You asked what happened to _Hyrule_.”

“Oh don’t start.”

“Did you find a way out?” Vio asks before they can get into some kind of stupid spat. Bad enough they’re in this situation to begin with, and they can’t be fighting while Red is still crying, or else it will be that much harder to calm him down. They’re _all_ worried for Hyrule, but Red always takes these things the hardest. A glance over at him shows that he is no longer hiding his face in Hyrule’s shoulder, but in Green’s. He holds one of Hyrule’s hands in both of his while Green holds him close to his side, gently rocking them and murmuring reassurances. Green has always been the best at keeping Red calm—keeping _all_ of them calm.

“Not yet,” Time replies, meeting Vio’s gaze evenly. “What about you?”

“We also fell through a hole,” Green says, grabbing Time’s attention.

“Hidden in the snow and everything,” Blue continues, as if he had been the one speaking.

Twilight perks up. “Actually, maybe we can retrace our steps and make it back to the hole we fell in.”

“What’s the point in doing that?” Blue snaps. “It’s too high up to reach!”

“Before, it was,” Twilight says. “But now, there’s more of us.”

Vio nods, catching on to what Twilight’s saying. “That might work. One of us can probably reach the top if we lift each other up.”

“Is this gonna be like that whole Totem Time thing Legend and Warriors were doing not too long ago?” Blue questions with a smirk, subtly tilting his head in Red and Green’s direction. “Because that sounds like a _fantastic_ plan.”

Vio nods in agreement, knowing for a fact that anything related to Legend’s little “strategy” would perk Red right up. He was the most excited when they started getting “lessons.”

Getting back to where they started is surprisingly easy. Hyrule’s delirium turns out to be a blessing in disguise, as he’s very this allows Twilight to transform into Wolfie—an _incredibly_ interesting process, if Vio does say himself—without any repercussions. He doubts Hyrule even _notices_ the change, as he mumbles out a, “hi Wolfie” long after Twilight has changed forms and doesn’t seem to realize Twilight’s “absence.”

Vio will take it. Small blessings can go a long way, and they’re in need of a little luck right now. Later on, when he fuses with the rest of his missing pieces, it’s not going to be pretty.

While easy to navigate the tunnels with a wolf on their side, progress is slow-going. Hyrule can barely walk, and Vio suspects Time is suffering from a nasty concussion himself, as he keeps pressing a hand to his temple every few minutes, stumbling over nothing and nearly dropping Hyrule, and asking the same two questions over and over: “Where are we going?” and “How is Hyrule?”

But they eventually make it back to where they started. After helping Time place Hyrule down, Twilight looks between Vio and his counterparts and the barely visible hole in the ceiling of the cave.

“If you all stack up and then I lift you, I think one of you can reach,” Twilight utters. “Who wants to relay the message to the others?”

* * *

  
Four holds his head in his hands, groaning as he feels his mind haphazardly stitch itself back together.

Twilight sits next to him, a warm arm around around his shoulders both to ground him and to shield him from prying eyes and unwanted questions.

They all saw him while he was split. They all saw him use his sword to patch himself back together. They all saw him collapse, his body going into shock while his mind tries to adjust to the sudden change. He thought he was confused over his emotions before, but he had forgotten just how terrible it is to split.

Four whimpers as he fights through four sets of emotions, waves of anguish and utter relief coming from the fragment that makes up Red, a burning anger and frustration coming from Blue, a cold and deeply rooted fear and anxiety from Green, and a storm of grief and dread from Vio. There’s so much to sort through despite being split for so little time. How did he ever do this before?

“You’re alright, Four,” Twilight murmurs, tugging him just a little closer. “You’re alright, and so are the others.”

Four looks up from his hands for the umpteenth time, looking at Hyrule and Time curled up in their separate bedrolls and sleeping off their injuries and the potions given to them. He grits his teeth as he feels a spike of guilt nearly rip him apart again.

“I don’t know how to feel, Twilight,” he blurts out, though he can’t say he’s sure why. Maybe it’s that guilt he just felt. Maybe it’s because his mind is still in pieces. “What am I supposed to feel?”

When Twilight doesn’t answer, Four looks up at him to see confusion clear on his face—and _only_ confusion.

“W-well…” Twilight fumbles for words, which only causes a bolt of raw anxiety to strike. Four bites back another whimper, but he can do nothing to stop his body from shaking.

“What _do_ you feel?” Twilight asks.

_Fucking everything_ , Blue hisses.

“Too much,” Four replies through clenched teeth. “I’m terrified, but I’m angry. I feel guilty, but I also feel relieved.” Four fists a hand in his hair, tugging at the long golden strands. “What’s the _right_ emotion?”

A hand grabs his wrist, stopping him from ripping his hair out. “Four, there is no right emotion.”

Everything comes to a screeching halt.

Four blinks, not daring to move a single muscle, not daring to breathe. He feels like cracked glass, ready to shatter should anything even _think_ of touching him.

Twilight continues, “There’s only so much you can do to control your feelings. And emotions are so… complex. Only feeling one emotion would be… ah,” he fumbles for his words again, but Four can only stare at him, slowly processing his words despite how awkward they are. “Weird? I guess weird is the right term. Point is, being angry, feeling guilty, being relieved, _none_ of those are wrong _._ ”

Twilight squeezes his shoulder, and something within Four slots into place, the thread that keeps him together stitching him up neatly.

“In fact, I feel much the same right now,” Twilight adds, eyes flicking towards their recovering companions for just a moment before returning to Four. “I’m relieved they’re okay, but I’m angry at myself for not noticing they were even gone. I’m worried for you and this ability of yours, but I’m grateful you seem to be getting better.”

At first, Four isn’t sure what he means by that last part, but then he notices that the war within has subsided. He’s not completely calm, and there are still bits and pieces of himself that are being put together, but for the first time in years, Four feels a semblance of normalcy. He feels a little less broken, a little more fixed, a little _peaceful._

It makes sense.

This whole time, he has been doing nothing but causing his own strife. All along, he thought he was truly unified within, when his control was slipping and slipping without his knowing.

“Thank you,” Four murmurs, bowing his head. “I think I really needed that.”

Twilight barks out a laugh, smushing Four against his side and ruffling his hair, much to his chagrin. “You _think_? No, Four, you absolutely needed someone to help you get your head on straight. Be as independent as you want, but sometimes you need a little help every now and again.”

Four chuckles, uselessly batting at Twilight’s hand in a vain attempt to get him to stop messing up his hair.

_He’s right,_ Four thinks as he finally grabs Twilight’s hand with both of his. _If anyone should know how right he is, it would be me._

Twilight’s laugh is music to his ears, and another glance down at their injured friends tells him that they are steadily recovering. Beyond the room they are currently in, Four can hear the other milling about, voices and various _clanking_ noises bleeding through the walls.

He finds that he doesn’t feel nearly as broken as he usually does. He knows deep down that he will never truly be “fixed”, but being broken isn’t such a bad thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick note: I can no longer access my Tumblr account.  
> So I made a new one! :D  
> [here](https://sillysillus.tumblr.com/) is my new main account where I will be posting my fics. I will take prompts if you suggest one :D  
> And [here](https://sillusscreams.tumblr.com/) is a sideblog where I will, as the title suggests, scream about other fan content I like.  
> If you wanna chat, that’s where you can find me <3  
> I hope you enjoyed!


	5. Sleepy Bonding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A drabble on tumblr! A lovely Anon requested some blushy Legend, so I delivered because _like I can resist lol_  
>  A quick note: the drabbles on Tumblr are short and sweet. Just a scene or two I had in mind because I simply cannot write out a full-fledged fic for these. I would if I could, trust me.  
> I hope you enjoy!  
> Original Post Date: Dec 14th.  
> Warning Tags: Fluff. Proceed with caution.  
> Summary:
> 
> On one hand, it’s incredibly endearing to see one of the most secretive heroes so relaxed and peaceful. It really shows how comfortable he has gotten around them, even if he never outright says anything.
> 
> But on the other hand, this is prime blackmail material.

“Hey,” Wild nudges Warriors with his elbow, grabbing the captain’s attention. “You see it too, right?”  
  


Warriors isn’t quite sure what Wild means, at least until Wild gestures to where Time is sitting by the fire, engaged in a conversation with Four and Sky. It takes him a moment, but when he sees it, his jaw nearly drops.  
  


“Yeah,” Warriors replies dumbly. “Yeah, I see it too.”  
  


“Alright, cool, I’m not nearly as crazy as I thought I was.”  
  


While the scene before them looks normal enough, all one would have to do is look at little harder at Time, as they would then realize that there’s a fourth person in that little circle of people, curled into the oldest hero’s side and sound asleep.  
  


Now, they all know Legend is “secretly” a softy. He looks after them all in a different way from Warriors and Time—a more nonchalant way. The nicknames he gives some of the others are practically dripping with affection, and he is overly protective to the point where he rivals Wild when it comes to being self-sacrificing.  
  


But to think the cranky hero would let his guard down enough to fall asleep on Time? While Four and Sky are there as well?   
  


But on the other hand, this is prime blackmail material.

Before Warriors can tell Wild to get his slate, the other hero is already holding it up, and he can hear the click of each photo being taken as Wild presses the button over and over with a grin on his face.

“That’s really cute,” Wild coos, showing Warriors some closeups of Time and Legend.

In the last couple of pictures, however, Time is glaring at the camera with his Disapproval Face. Warriors glances up to see Time chuckling at Four’s erratic hand gestures, an arm now around Legend’s shoulders and partially hiding him from their view.

“You should probably delete those pictures,” Warriors suggests, catching Time’s eye and feeling his skin crawl underneath the piercing gaze.

“But—“

“Time knows.”

“… dammit.”

* * *

When Legend wakes up, he finds that he is warm. This isn’t just a warmth that comes from waking up in the morning underneath a blanket, but rather a warmth that feels like he’s been lying out in the sun for hours.

Which is odd, because it’s still dark out.

He’s being moved. Legend grumbles as his pillow shifts away from him. Can’t they see he’s trying to sleep?

“I’m just trying to lie us down,” a voice soothes, deep and quiet. Legend’s irritation melts away at it, and he concludes that it must be his uncle. Only his uncle can make him feel this safe. Normally he’s more alert when he wakes up, but for once, Legend allows himself to relax, lets himself be adjusted, and falls asleep to the lull of a strong heartbeat.

* * *

Legend fucked up.

The morning light streams through the branches high above him, glinting off the morning dew and clearing away the lingering fog.

And here Legend is, cuddled up against Time, who is acting as if this is just a regular occurrence.

To say Legend’s face is bright red is an understatement. An enormous understatement.

“Are you going to stop pretending to be asleep?” Time asks, and Legend can just _hear_ the smirk in his voice.

“Are you going to let me go?” Legend shoots back, very conscious of the hand carding through his hair.

“I’m not exactly holding you captive,” Time chuckles. He’s right, but Legend isn’t about to admit it.

“Why didn’t you just sleep somewhere else?” Legend asks, hoping that Time will take pity on him.

Thankfully, he takes the bait. “You were asleep and I didn’t want to move you too much.” He huffs out a laugh. “You really needed the rest. I don’t think you’ve ever slept the whole night before.”

Too much pity. _Too much pity!_

Somehow, Legend feels his face heat up even _more_ , the comfortable warmth from before now growing to be too much for him to handle. Of all people, of course it would be Time that would catch little things like that. Wait a second…

“Did you even sleep?”

“Not a wink.”

Legend is going to die. His wit fails him, the snarky remark he was going to make dying on his tongue. This is embarrassing. No, this is _horrifying_.

“Just so you know,” Time hums, as if he’s not responsible for Legend’s current predicament. “You should probably start cuddling Wolfie so you can get a good night’s sleep with minimal embarrassment.”

“I hate you. So much.”

“I’m sure you do.”


	6. Fickle Magic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr Drabble!! @thatonerandomdave on tumblr requested some ideas or variation of Hyrule, and y'all know how much I love Hyrule :3  
> I hope you enjoy!  
> Original Post Date: Dec 14th  
> Warning Tags: Magic :D  
> Summary:
> 
> “You just want me in your debt so I have to teach you magic later, don’t you?”
> 
> Wind grins, but doesn’t confirm nor deny. It’s all the confirmation Hyrule needs. He sighs.

“How did you even learn how to use magic?” Wind asks as they’re walking along an old and beaten path.

“You’ll never believe me,” Hyrule chuckles in reply. “Compared to what you guys have done? My own experiences will just be weird.”

Wind grabs his sleeve and tugs on it with a whine. “But I wanna know! Your magic is so cool and I wanna learn!”

“Uh,” Hyrule splutters. “I’m not sure if teaching you magic is a good idea… you’re a little young—“

“Are you seriously gonna pull the “you’re too young” card?” Wind snaps, giving Hyrule a death glare. “I thought you were cooler than that!”

Again, Hyrule splutters as he tries to amend his mistake. “Th-thats not what I meant! I—“

“Then what did you mean, because it sounds like you’re saying I’m too young! I’m a hero like the rest of you!”

Oh boy. Hyrule gulps, using a finger to pull out his collar a little. “Wind, it’s not a maturity thing,” Hyrule says in hopes of the kid understanding what he means. “It’s your physical age that’s the problem! I know you’re a hero like the rest of us, and I’m not doubting you or anything it’s j-just…”

Wind is staring at him with a raised eyebrow, but he’s not spitting profanities like Hyrule thought he would be, which is a step in the right direction.

So he takes a deep breath before continuing, “Magic is very… volatile, in a sense. Even if you can use magic, at your age it would be hard to control because you don’t have a lot of experience but you have a lot of energy.” Hyrule scratches the back of his head, peering at Wind shyly only to see the lad taking on a look of consideration. Encouraged, Hyrule adds, “If I taught you a spell, it would probably blow up in your face.”

“Oohh!” Wind nods sagely, giving Hyrule a thumbs up. “I getcha!”

Hyrule waits, but Wind doesn’t say anything else. He still looks like he’s pondering over something, which is rather unnerving because what could he possibly be contemplating?

Later in the day, Wind approaches him once more, holding a white baton. The item radiates magical energy, powerful energy, too. Before Hyrule can say anything, Wind holds the baton up.

“If you can’t teach me magic, maybe I can teach you something?”

“You just want me in your debt so I have to teach you magic later, don’t you?”

Wind grins, but doesn’t confirm nor deny. It’s all the confirmation Hyrule needs. He sighs.

“Alright, I’ll bite,” Hyrule fully turns to Wind, eyeing the baton and deciding to humor him. “What have you got?”

“Watch.” With that, Wind lifts the baton and moves it up, right, and left in a pattern, and Hyrule hears a different chime with each movement, each one louder than the last. With a wink, Wind points the baton at Hyrule, and a blast of air assaults him as the wind suddenly changes direction.

“Woah,” Hyrule gasps hair now sticking up in every direction physically possible. “You can control the wind?”

“That’s my title, doofus,” Wind playfully jeers.

Hyrule coughs into his fist. “Right. Uh… how did you do it?”

Wind goes through the motions again, and Hyrule copies him carefully, letting his magic tingle in his fingertips as he moves his hands up, right, left, up, right, left…

At first, Hyrule thinks nothing will come of this, but after about ten minutes, Hyrule suddenly finds the air malleable to his touch, the wind curling around his fingertips and swirling around his body like a caress.

“Woah…” Wind breathes, watching him with wide green eyes.

“Yeah,” Hyrule replies, a wide grin slowly spreading across his face. “This is amazing…”

Just as the words leave his lips, the wind suddenly blasts him in the face once more. Hyrule coughs, stumbling back with his hair now a million times worse and his clothes windswept.

Wind starts howling with laughter at the sight, arms wrapping around his stomach as he curls in on himself. Hyrule gives him a wobbly smile.

“See?” He says. “It’ll just blow up in your face. I guess I need more practice…”


	7. A Moment of Vulnerability

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Tumblr Drabble. Not a request, but one I did at approximately 2 in the morning because I saw a shitpost and made it sad.  
> :)  
> I hope you enjoy! The shitpost in question can be found [ here ](https://sillus.tumblr.com/post/189467063573/linkeduniversetweets-yanna-banna-yall-know)  
> Original Post Date: Dec 4th  
> Warning Tags: Angst?? Kinda?? More Hurt/Comfort than anything.  
> Summary:
> 
> They’re deep into the woods now, and Twilight is debating on turning back and recruiting the rest of the group, when Wind tugs on his arm.
> 
> “Twi,” he whispers, pointing to their left. “Look!”
> 
> Between the bushes and the long tendrils of grass, Twilight spots something small and blue poking just above the bunches of leaves. Twilight makes his way over with Wind on his heels, and when they shove aside a bush concealing the rest of the person hiding behind it, the sight they see is astonishing.

Legend has been looking rather down these past few days, which is somewhat alarming to Twilight, because Legend always seems grumpy or smug.

He hasn’t said anything—it’s Legend, after all—but the fact that his emotions are so prevalent in his body movement and facial expressions is just… startling.

And oddly enough, nobody has seemed to really notice aside from Twilight and, surprisingly, Wind. To them, it’s clear as day that Legend looks more pissed off than usual, and at night, he’s taken to curling in a ball and leaving his back exposed to both them and the rest of the group. Legend doesn’t _do_ that! Legend always sleeps with his back pressed against a log or a tree, and he always has everyone in his immediate sight before he drifts off.

There’s something wrong, and Twilight and Wind have no idea what to do. They don’t want to bring up this sudden change to the others in fear of Legend closing himself off, but confronting Legend about it just seems like a bad idea right now. They don’t know what he needs, and they don’t know if this change in attitude is going to get better or worse.

All they can do is wait for an opening of sorts.

It comes one warm evening, when Legend has yet to return from collecting some extra firewood.

“We should probably go after him,” Sky suggests, moving to do just that.

Twilight puts a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from getting up. “I can go look for him.”

Wind springs up from his spot next to Four. “I can too!”

Four catches Twilight’s eye, and he looks as if he’s about to protest against Wind coming along. Before he can say anything, though, Twilight nods and gestures for the youngest hero to follow him. Wind bounces after him, much to Four's surprise.

The two make their way through the forest, Twilight easily navigating the terrain while Wind trips over various sticks and small rocks strewn about. He grumbles under his breath, jogging to keep up with Twilight’s long strides. He would have preferred to go alone so he could use his wolf form, but Wind was the only one of the others to notice Legend’s change in mood, and it felt wrong to not let him come along. Besides, Legend has a soft spot for Wind.

They’re deep into the woods now, and Twilight is debating on turning back and recruiting the rest of the group, when Wind tugs on his arm.

“Twi,” he whispers, pointing to their left. “Look!”

Between the bushes and the long tendrils of grass, Twilight spots something small and blue poking just above the bunches of leaves. Twilight makes his way over with Wind on his heels, and when they shove aside a bush concealing the rest of the person hiding behind it, the sight they see is astonishing.

Legend sits with his knees drawn to his chest and his hands clasped over his mouth. His icy blue eyes are wide and glimmering with tears both unshed and slowly running down his cheeks. What’s so eerie about the scene before them is how utterly _silent_ Legend is. They would have missed him had Wind not seem his hat.

Legend’s eyes widen at the sight of him, and he scrambles to his feet with his head bowed to hide his face. “What are you two doing here?” He snaps in a watery voice.

“Are you okay?” Twilight asks instead, reaching out a hand. Legend slaps it away.

“I’m fine! Now leave me alone! I’m perfectly capable of gathering firewood by myself without you lot hovering!”

Twilight ignores the sting of Legend’s words. While upset, it’s clear Legend isn’t actually angry with them, but rather the circumstance they’ve found themselves within. Twilight flounders in his mind for a way to offer comfort and support without upsetting Legend even more.

But Wind is one step ahead of him. Before Legend can storm off, Wind lunges forward and throws his arms around Legend’s neck in a hug. Legend’s hands find his shoulders, and he tries to pry off the clingy Wind.

“What are you doing?” He seethes, stumbling under Wind’s weight. “Get the fuck off of me!”

“Wind,” Twilight says, moving to pull the kid off Legend himself, when he pauses. Legend is still trying to get Wind off of him, but his hands are shaking now, and more tears are flowing from his eyes.

“Get off,” Legend tries again, his tone wavering. Twilight sees Wind tighten his hold as Legend’s attempts to tear the kid off of him become weaker and half-hearted. “G-get… off…”

Wind murmurs something, and Twilight can’t make out the words, but their effect on Legend is immediate. Twilight sees him break and give in, silent tears turning into heart-wrenching sobs as Legend buries his face in Wind’s shoulders and reaches up to clutch at his tunic, pulling the boy even closer.

“You’re okay,” Wind soothes, looking back at Twilight with a wide gaze. “You’re okay.”

Twilight shakes himself free of his stunned stupor and marches over. He stops at their side and gathers the two into his own arms, biting back a startled noise when one of Legend’s hands jerks to grab a fistful of his tunic and yank him closer.

“I… I…” Legend sniffles, the noise muffled in Wind’s tunic.

“You don’t have time say anything,” Twilight reassures, using a hand to rub circles in Legend’s shoulder. “We’re here for you.”

That seems to make him cry harder, but he also tightens his hold on them. When his legs eventually give out from the amount of shaking he’s doing, Wind and Twilight slowly lower him to the ground, not daring to let go or pull away, but instead exchanging a glance above Legend’s head and sharing a tiny nod.

Older Brothers have to stick together. Legend needs a rock to lean on right now, and Wind and Twilight silently vow to _be_ that rock both for each other and the rest of their companions.

They’re supposed to take care of their brothers, after all.


	8. Repairing... Arrows?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr Drabble! A lovely Anon and the wonderful @liccy each sent a request that I decided to combine! The Anon wanted some Warriors and Hyrule, while Liccy wanted something with Hyrule's arrows using rupees as arrowheads (Because when you shoot an arrow in Z1, you lose a rupee).  
> Original Post Date: Jan 15th  
> Warning Tags: Intimidation XD (Humor lol)  
> Summary:
> 
> “Okay,” Warriors sits down beside him, notably on his right so he’s further away from the flames on his sword. “I have a lot of questions that you are going to answer.”
> 
> That’s an order if Hyrule has ever heard one.

“Hyrule, what in Nayru’s name are you _doing?_ ”

Hyrule looks up from his spot on the ground to see Warriors standing over him with a perplexed expression on his face.

“Hi Warriors,” He chirps in reply. “I’m doing repairs on my items!”

Warriors blinks, looking between Hyrule and the assortment of items both in his hands and scattered around him–most are arrow shafts. “Repairs on your items,” Warriors asks, sounding unconvinced, though Hyrule can’t imagine why.

“Yup!” 

“That doesn’t explain why you’re melting _rupees_.”

“I’m not melting them!” Hyrule protests, moving the green rupee in one hand away from the flames surrounding his sword in his other hand. He frowns when it doesn’t look any different. “Not completely, anyway! I’m using them to make arrows!”

“ _ **What?**_ ”

“I am heating up the rupees,” Hyrule explains, sounding as if he’s speaking to a child even though he knows for a fact Warriors has around seven years on him, “so that they’re soft enough to stick on the end of an arrow.”

“Okay,” Warriors sits down beside him, notably on his right so he’s further away from the flames on his sword. “I have a lot of questions that you are going to answer.”

That’s an order if Hyrule has ever heard one.

Hyrule eyes him expectantly while moving the green rupee back into the flames, unaffected by the fire due to it being his magic and giving Warriors a small, encouraging smile. Warriors looks… uncomfortable, though Hyrule really can’t see why.

“Can‘t you just buy arrows?”

Hyrule shakes his head. “Nope! Nobody sells them because nobody else has a bow. Not a lot of profit will be made.” He then shrugs. “It’s not like I really need the money anyway.”

“So you’re using it to make glorified arrowheads instead of, I don’t know, buying other equipment or a house or food or clothes or anything?”

Hyrule doesn’t answer immediately, as he’s too busy concentrating on the rupee. It is just beginning to warp, much to Hyrule’s delight, so he places his still flaming sword on the ground—and if the flames were not magical in nature, there would be a huge problem right now—and grabs one of the many arrow shafts lying around. With a carefulness that Warriors has yet to see, Hyrule sticks the heated end of the rupee onto the shaft, watching as it attaches itself like glue to the wood. As Hyrule begins blowing on it to cool it back down, Warriors is stunned into a stupor at the sight before him.

“That should not have worked.”

“That’s how it’s always worked for me,” Hyrule replies with another shrug. “And I don’t buy any of that stuff! I already have all the items I need, I don’t have a house and I don’t want one, I find my own food, and I already have three tunics!”

Warriors just _stares_ at Hyrule as he sets the newly crafted “arrow” aside, picks up his flaming sword, fishes out another rupee from his wallet, and begins the process all over again.

“You confuse me,” Warriors finally says as Hyrule narrows his eyes in concentration. “Wait, no, you _scare_ me. Hyrule, what the actual fuck?”

“It’s not that bad!” Hyrule replies with a grin. “Life on the road is great! I can’t stand to sit still like the rest of you guys. And my arrows pierce anything in my way!”

“You know what? I give up.” Warriors stands up and proceeds to walk away, only to stop when Hyrule calls his name.

“Didn’t you say you had a ton of questions?” He asks, green eyes wide with an innocent curiosity. Warriors waves a hand at him dismissively.

“I have decided that I don’t wanna know.”

And for a while, that’s where it’s left at. Warriors doesn’t bother to bring up Hyrule’s… unique arrows with anybody else due to the inevitable headache that will follow, and Hyrule thinks nothing of Warriors’s odd behavior and keeps semi-melting rupees to make more arrows.

So when Legend pulls an arrow out of the ground one day and discovers that the arrowhead is a deformed, green rupee, Warriors can only offer him an exasperated shrug when he sees a look on Legend’s face that goes beyond confusion and cannot physically be described in Hylian.


	9. Sneak Attack!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr Drabble! Another lovely Anon requested Time and another Link being little gremlin shits. I had my fun hehe!  
> I hope you enjoy!  
> Original Post Date: Jan 25th  
> Warning Tags: An Accidental... "injury." (If you can even call it that. It's Humor y'all.)  
> Summary:  
> “You mean you’ve seen this before?” Warriors yells, dropping Hyrule and Wind in favor of throwing his arms up in outrage. “And you didn’t say anything?”
> 
> “I tried to,” Twilight huffs. “But then it disappeared. It happens all the time. Don’t worry about it.”
> 
> Ah, so Twilight has seen this… “giant green cloud of air” before? Time smirks. He needs to step up his game.

“So is anyone gonna tell me what this giant green cloud is, or…?”

Time looks up from the strange contraption that Sky calls the Beetle, raising an amused eyebrow as Warriors studies what he calls the “giant green cloud” with narrowed eyes. Hyrule walks up to stand beside him, peering at the cloud in scrutiny.

“It’s more like a weird… ball of wind,” he says, reaching out with a finger to poke it. Warriors slaps his hand away before he can do so.

“Don’t touch it!” He snaps. “We don’t know what this thing is!”

“I just said it was a weird ball of wind,” Hyrule mutters, but allows Warriors to fret over him anyway. Because of this, Warriors is not fast enough to stop Wind from running up and sticking a hand in the “ball of wind” with a bright smile on his face.

“Hyrule’s right,” he chirps as Warriors looks five seconds away from either fainting or bursting with anger. Perhaps both? “It’s just a bunch of wind!”

“But why is it green?” Hyrule asks.

“Who cares?” Warriors shouts, grabbing both of them by the collars of their tunics and dragging them away from the object of their curiosity. “It could be dangerous!”

“It’s just air!” Wind protests, trying and failing to wriggle out of Warriors’s hold. “I can _control_ the air! This is nothing!”

“It _does_ seem magical,” Hyrule murmurs, allowing himself to be dragged off by Warriors. “It’s certainly not natural, that’s for sure.”

Time presses a button on the remote for the Beetle and it suddenly flies up into the air, hovering above him. He quickly presses the button again before anybody takes notice, and the Beetle lands back in his hands as if it had never moved. Interesting. Very interesting.

“Just ignore it,” Twilight calls, not looking up from his sword as he cleans it. Four sits beside him, watching his progress carefully. “It goes away after a few minutes.”

“You mean you’ve seen this before?” Warriors yells, dropping Hyrule and Wind in favor of throwing his arms up in outrage. “And you didn’t say _anything_?”

“I _tried_ to,” Twilight huffs. “But then it disappeared. It happens all the time. Don’t worry about it.”

Ah, so Twilight has seen this… “giant green cloud of air” before? Time smirks. He needs to step up his game.

“Do you know what it is?” Wild asks from his spot on Twilight’s other side, glancing up from his Sheikah slate.

“Not a clue,” Twilight answers with a shrug.

“It could be dangerous!”

“You are such a sissy,” Legend jeers. “Calm down.”

“And this _sissy_ is gonna be the reason we’re all still alive!” Warriors retorts with a glare. “Honestly, you guys! Do none of you care about keeping yourselves safe?”

“We’ve never had the luxury,” Four comments. Warriors face-palms.

“How are we the same person?” He groans. “By Hylia, _how_?”

“Oh hush, you drama queen.” Legend rolls his eyes and pats Warriors on the shoulder.

The evening proceeds as usual after that. Everyone mills about, doing their own thing with some light conversation. That is, until the Beetle suddenly launches upward and begins flying around in an unnatural, jerky way.

“Oops,” Time mutters, frantically tapping at the remote with a scoff. “This damn thing has a mind of its own!”

“I’ll get it!” Wind runs after the Beetle, leaping up at it as it lurches from side to side. His waving arms fail to reach the height of the Beetle, but Wind doesn’t give up.

“Wait, hang on!” Wild jumps up and chases after him. “Let me try!”

“No way! I’ve got this!”

“You’re too short to reach it!”

The two chase after the Beetle, knocking against each other as they try in vain to grab the pesky thing. Time grins mischievously as Legend and Warriors join in. Now to move it towards the cloud…

The four are either oblivious, or don’t care where the Beetle is leading them. They jump after it like a bunch of rabbits, right toward the green cloud. Just as they come right before it, suddenly a bright light flashes and Sky appears from thin air.

“ _ **BOO! SNEAK ATTACK!**_ ”

The four cry out in unison, Wind taking it a step further and decking Sky in the face.

* * *

“You okay?” Time asks later that night, peering at Sky. The other hero is sitting next to him, holding a ball of ice courtesy of an extremely pissed off Legend to his cheek where Wind punched him. The skin there is an angry red.

“I’m fine,” Sky sighs. “But Wind throws a good punch.”

“Sorry about this,” Time murmurs, guilt creeping in to replace the worry. “I shouldn’t have—“

“Oh don’t start,” Sky interrupts, giving Time a bright grin despite the pain it must cause. “Did you see their faces? It was worth it!”

Time chuckles. “They _did_ have some nice reactions. But I didn’t mean for you to get hurt.”

“It’s a _punch_ , Time,” Sky chastises. “I’ll live. Besides, using that item of yours was fun! What was it called again? Farore’s Wind?”

Time nods with another chuckle. “Yeah. It’s a fun one indeed.”

“I presume that’s how you, ah, “teleport” around all the time?” Sky asks, mischief twinkling in those pale eyes.

“You caught me,” Time replies with a smirk. “I normally don’t hide it in plain sight, but yes. That’s how I snuck up on Warriors back when we were discussing my masks.”

Sky leans in, and with a voice no louder than a whisper, “Teach me your ways.”

“Certainly.”


End file.
